They are expected to serve time in prison for damaging the frame
In October 2022, Just Stop Oil activists Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, both 22, entered the National Gallery in London, and as part of an act of protest, threw the contents of a can of tomato soup on Van Gogh's “Sunflowers (1888)” painting. The canvas, protected by glass, was not damaged, but its 17th-century Italian frame received minor damage.
“What is more important, art or life? Is (art) more valuable than food? Is it more valuable than justice? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people?” Plummer exclaimed during the act. “The crisis of the cost of living is part of the crisis of the cost of oil.”
Finally, on July 26 this year, Plummer and Holland were found guilty of criminal damage. Judge Christopher Hehir, of Southwark Crown Court, told the activists to “prepare themselves emotionally and mentally for going to prison.” They will be formally sentenced on September 27; in the meantime, among the conditions for their release on bail, they must not visit galleries or museums, or carry glue, paint or any adhesive substance in public places.
Just Stop Oil and works of art
The attack on Van Gogh's Sunflowers is just one of several acts of vandalism carried out by the Just Stop Oil organisation on world-famous works of art. Other "victims" have included Velázquez's Venus with a Mirror (1647) at the National Gallery, and Giampietrino and Boltraffio's The Last Supper (1510) (a faithful copy of Leonardo Da Vinci's work) at the Royal Academy.
It is important to mention that none of the works attacked by the organisation have suffered major or permanent damage; all the attacks have been on works that had protective glass and the activists have stuck to the walls, glass or frames of the works, but never to the works themselves. They have also carried out acts of vandalism at sporting events, objects of historical value and important places or areas, such as their most recent act of spraying Stonehenge with orange spray. It is presumed that the organisation receives specialised advice as none of their actions have posed a real danger to the people who were nearby or the objects they sought to attack.
The organisation's real motivation behind these acts is to attract international media attention and spread their protest against the excessive use of oil and the damage to the environment, particularly in the United Kingdom and Europe. However, the activists behind these acts have received various fines and sentences for their actions. Recently, 5 of the Just Stop Oil activists were sentenced by the same judge Hehir to 4 and 5 years in prison for stopping traffic on the M25 motorway, one of the busiest and most important motorways in the United Kingdom.
With information from BBC News and CNN.