The climate activists of Just Stop Oil wanted the world’s attention Friday and they got it—For better or worse. These unhinged activists threw Heinz tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting at London’s National Gallery where they then proceeded to glue themselves to the wall.
On Saturday, the pair were joined in court by another Just Stop Oil supporter who had doused a Scotland Yard sign in yellow paint.
Members of the U.K.-based group have previously gained attention for gluing themselves to paintings at art galleries and blocking roads and even racetracks.
The activists say their goal is to “ensure that the government commits to ending all new licenses and consents for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK.”
The UK is currently faced with a bigger oil crisis than the one seen here in the US as they’re in direct competition with Asia for fuel. At the start of this fall, the UK reported that they had already depleted their winter reserves and would have to start drilling and sourcing oil domestically.
So, this nutty act is in response to that decision
According to the BBC, The Metropolitan Police said: “Officers were rapidly on scene at the National Gallery this morning after two Just Stop Oil protesters threw a substance over a painting and then glued themselves to a wall.
“Both have been arrested for criminal damage and aggravated trespass. Officers are now de-bonding them.”
Videos of Friday’s incident showed a protester shouting: “What is worth more? Art or life? Is it worth more than food? Worth more than justice? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people?”
She also referenced the cost of living crisis and “millions of cold, hungry families” who “can’t even afford to heat a tin of soup”. This brings us back to the need for the UK to drill domestically to bring down costs and end shortages—Which this group is protesting.
What are they teaching these kids? I’m asking because if these ‘activists’ knew anything about Van Gogh they would have known that he was impoverished and lived humbly. He often used his paintings to combat his crippling depression. He sometimes used those paintings as means of barter because he had nothing else. In fact, it’s widely believed that Van Gogh committed suicide because of his mounting debts and life-long struggle with mental illness.
The poor guy was mocked for his style of painting until his death and then everyone who received his ‘worthless’ works of art in return for some small kindness they provided, profited from that death.
I’m just saying, that out of the many painters these left-wing nuts could have targeted they picked the one man who had nothing but his art in the end. That’s just sad.
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The painting is one of seven Sunflowers works Van Gogh created in 1888 and 89, five of which are on display in galleries and museums across the world. The artist created them to decorate his house in Arles, France, before a visit from his friend, the artist Paul Gauguin.