Three Just Stop Oil activists have been arrested after throwing tomato soup at two of Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” paintings at London’s National Gallery on Friday. The National Gallery confirmed that the activists were arrested and the paintings remained unharmed, as they were protected by glass, Reuters reports.
This incident occurred shortly after two other Just Stop Oil members, Phoebe Plummer, 23, and Anna Holland, 22, were sentenced to prison for a similar protest in 2022, where they threw soup at a Van Gogh painting and glued themselves to the wall. Their actions caused approximately £10,000 ($13,385) in damage to the frame, but the painting was undamaged. The judge expressed that their actions nearly led to irreversible damage to the painting, deemed “probably priceless.” Plummer received a two-year sentence for criminal damage, while Holland was sentenced to 20 months.
This protest comes amid a broader crackdown on protest movements in Britain and Europe, with Just Stop Oil activists having staged several disruptive protests. In July, five members were sentenced to a total of four years in prison for conspiring to block the M25 motorway.
