Activists who threw soup at Van Gogh’s painting pleaded not guilty in court – showbiz

Anna Holland, 20, and Phoebe Plummer, 21, both members of the civil disobedience group Just Stop Oil, defended the charge with District Judge Tan Erkham.

They were released on bail and await trial on December 13 in London.

The gallery declared that the painting itself was undamaged, as it was protected by glass, but the frame had “minor damage”.

The two activists entered the National Gallery and threw two cans of Heinz tomato soup on the canvas, painted in 1888 by the Dutch impressionist master. The work is estimated to be worth 72.5 million pounds (approximately 84 million euros).

It all happened around 11 am at the museum in Trafalgar Square: Video shared by the organization on social media The duo of the group is shown wearing T-shirts and tossing the contents of two cans of Heinz tomato soup before sticking their hand against the wall below the vandalized plate.

Then one activist, 21-year-old Phoebe Plummer, was heard saying, “What’s more worth, art or life? Is it worth more than food? More than justice? Do you care more about protecting a painting? Or protecting? Our planet and our people?” .

“The cost of living crisis is part of the cost of the oil crisis,” he added, shaking the can. “Fuel is unaffordable for millions of cold, hungry families. They can’t even heat a can of soup.”

And surrounded visitors, journalists and photographers activists after the attack, before they were escorted by security at the National Museum, who quickly closed the room in which the painting is displayed.

The police arrested the two women on charges of “compensation and aggravated misdemeanour”.

“Sunflowers” is the second most famous work by Van Gogh that was attacked by the group “Just Stop Oil”. In late June, two activists from the group stuck their hands on an 1889 painting “Peach Trees in Bloom” at the Courtauld Gallery in London.

Activists linked to this group have blocked roads around Parliament and other parts of London for 14 days and called for the immediate suspension of “all future licenses for oil and gas exploration, development and production” in the UK.

After increasing questioning by her political, economic and environmental decisions, Britain’s new Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss, who was appointed on September 6 to succeed controversial Boris Johnson, announced two days later the lifting of the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in the UK. united.

In addition to allowing this controversial method of extracting fossil fuels, which until then had been banned in the country, Truss also announced an increase in licenses to extract oil and gas in the North Sea, as part of his measures to tackle the energy crisis.