Van Gogh Soup Attack Latest in at Least a Dozen Since Mona Lisa Smearing

Climate change protesters in London thought that the best way to get their point across was by vandalizing a Vincent van Gogh painting on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Two women threw tomato soup on van Gogh's Sunflowers and then glued their hands to the wall. The vandalism is the most recent in a slew of attacks against art exhibits in activists' attempts to garner more attention to climate change.

It followed the now-common approach by U.K. climate campaign group Just Stop Oil in which protesters vandalize paintings and then glue their hands to the wall or the painting's frame. In most cases, no damage occurs or only the frames are damaged, but some museums take strong security measures to protect some of the priceless paintings, such as encasing famous works in protective materials.

The London gallery told Newsweek that Sunflowers is back on display. Both women were arrested. The spokesperson declined to share the museum's protection arrangements as that would "compromise our security."

Attack Timeline

According to the New York Times, sometimes the targeted paintings depict images of the environment or are related to climate change in some way, but other times, protesters target works of art that are certain to attract attention.

The Mona Lisa was the subject of a protest about climate change when a man smeared cake on it at the Louvre in Paris in late May. The painting was undamaged, as it is encased in bulletproof glass. According to a statement from the Louvre, the protester hid the cake in his belongings. CBS News said the protester urged onlookers to "think about the earth" as he was taken away by security.

In July, Just Stop Oil protesters spray-painted "no new oil" on the floor of the Manchester Art Gallery in England before gluing themselves to the frame of Tomson's Aeolian Harp, a romantic painting completed in 1809 by J.M.W. Turner. The painting shows the Thames River, which, according to a story by German-based DW News, could overflow in less than 10 years because of climate change.

Another July stunt involved climate change protesters gluing themselves to a copy of Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper at The Royal Academy in London.

Other incidents by Just Stop Oil in July included modifying The Hay Wain painting by John Constable that depicts a farmhand crossing a stream with a horse and wagon. Protesters layered a printout over the painting to show the effects of climate change, such as dead trees and smokestacks.

Many of the protests have centered on U.K. displays, but they have crossed borders as well. The DW News story reported attacks in Germany in which activists from Letzte Generation glued themselves to Landscape during a Thunderstorm with Pyramus and Thisbe by Nicolas Poussin at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt. Members of the same organization also glued themselves to the frame of the Sistine Madonna by Raphael in Dresden.

Activists from the same organization glued themselves to other paintings in Germany, including Rest on the Flight into Egypt by Cranach in Berlin's Gemäldegalerie and Massacre of the Innocents by Rubens in Munich's Alte Pinakothek.

Activists target more than paintings, including statues and other forms of art. Climate activists glued themselves to a Vatican statute in Germany and hung a banner reading "Last generation: No gas, no coal."

Damage often is found only on the frame of the artwork, if any damage is done at all, but German Cultural Council Managing Director Olaf Zimmermann told DW News that the risk of damaging the priceless pieces was high.

The Friday morning stunt at the National Portrait Gallery by Just Stop Oil damaged the frame of van Gogh's Sunflowers, which is estimated to be worth more than $81 million. The gallery's website said the painting is one of the museum's most popular.

The act spurred an immediate response from the art community on Twitter.

"Well done all those climate change activists who threw soup on Van Gogh's Sunflowers. That'll show pollution and all those governments and corporations," Managing Director of Mukta Arts and Head of Academics at Whistling Woods International Rahul Puri tweeted.

Newsweek reached out to several art and museum experts for comment.