A Just Stop Oil activist is arrested after Vincent van Gogh's sunflowers had soup thrown on it. Photo: Martin Pope/Getty Images
A pair of climate activists threw tomato soup on Vincent van Gogh's famous "Sunflowers" painting at the National Gallery in London on Friday, leading to arrests and minor damage to the frame of the painting.
Why it matters: Climate protesters in Europe have been attaching themselves to works of art, including famous paintings, for months to grab attention and raise questions about the value of life and art, according to the New York Times.
Driving the news: Activists from the Just Stop Oil group chucked tomato soup on the Sunflowers painting Friday morning.
- The protesters then glued themselves to the wall underneath the artwork, which is one of the six remaining images made by Van Gogh of sunflowers, per the New York Times.
- The protesters reportedly asked those in the area of the painting if art is worth more than life and food and if spectators were more concerned about the well-being of the planet or the painting, according to the Guardian.
- Two arrests were made after the incident.
What they're saying: Alex De Koning, a Just Stop Oil spokesperson, told the Guardian that the group is "not trying to make friends here, we are trying to make change, and unfortunately this is the way that change happens."
- Just Stop Oil did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
The National Gallery said the painting — which is encased in glass — was not harmed but the frame suffered minor damage.
The big picture: Activists have been protesting around famous paintings at museums for months now.
- Just Stop Oil activists glued themselves to Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" at London's Royal Academy of Arts and John Constable's "The Hay Wain" at the National Gallery in July, per AP.
- In May, a man who dressed as a woman in a wheelchair smeared cake on the glass protecting the Mona Lisa, urging people to "think of the Earth."