Two paintings by Dutch master Vincent van Gogh were vandalized at London's National Gallery on Friday when climate activists from the Just Stop Oil group splashed what appeared to be tomato soup on them. This incident came shortly after two other activists were sentenced for a similar attack two years ago.
The paintings, both from Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” series, were unharmed due to protective glass coverings. The gallery confirmed that the pieces involved were Sunflowers (1888) from its collection and Sunflowers (1889), on loan from the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The three activists were arrested, and the paintings were temporarily removed for inspection before being returned to display. The exhibition resumed later that day. Just Stop Oil shared a video of the protest on social media, where it showed three individuals pouring soup over the artwork in apparent opposition to the sentencing of two other group members, Phoebe Plummer, 23, and Anna Holland, 22, earlier that day.
Plummer was sentenced to two years, and Holland received a 20-month sentence for their October 2022 attack on a "Sunflowers" painting. During the protest, the two women threw cans of tomato soup at the artwork, then knelt in front of it and glued their hands to the wall beneath. A jury found them guilty of criminal damage in July.
In both the 2022 and Friday attacks, the activists wore T-shirts promoting the Just Stop Oil movement. This group has been advocating for the British government to halt new oil and gas projects and is known for staging high-profile protests.
In a video from Friday's incident, one of the unnamed activists declared that future generations would see them as "prisoners of conscience" who were "on the right side of history."
During the 2022 attack, the gold-colored frame of Van Gogh's painting sustained £10,000 ($13,000) worth of damage, and museum staff feared the soup could have seeped through and caused irreparable harm to the artwork.
In Friday’s sentencing, Judge Christopher Hehir emphasized that the painting could have been “seriously damaged or even destroyed.” Hehir had also presided over the case of Roger Hallam, co-founder of Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, sentencing him to five years.
Addressing Plummer on Friday, Hehir remarked, “You clearly think your beliefs give you the right to commit crimes when you feel like it.” Plummer, who represented herself and pleaded guilty, accepted the verdict, stating she would do so “with a smile.” She also commented, “It is not just myself being sentenced today, or my co-defendants, but the foundations of democracy itself.”
Five days after her guilty verdict in July, Plummer was arrested again for spraying paint on departure boards at Heathrow Airport.
Raj Chada, Holland’s defense lawyer, argued that both women had ensured the "Sunflowers" painting was protected by glass before throwing the soup.
