Three climate activists “souped” two paintings from Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers (1887–1889) series at London’s National Gallery again today, September 27, in response to the jail sentencing of two protesters who led a similar action in October 2022.
A spokesperson for the National Gallery told Hyperallergic that the paintings were examined by a conservator and confirmed to be unharmed. Both of the artworks, as in the original 2022 action, were protected by glass.
“Police were called and three people have been arrested,” the spokesperson said. “The two Sunflowers have now been returned to display and the exhibition was reopened to the public at just after 5:45pm.”
Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland of the anti-fossil fuel group Just Stop Oil, who led the 2022 protest, were sentenced to 27 and 20 months in prison, respectively, after being found guilty of damages allegedly amounting to more than £5,000 (~$6,700). Both activists also received three years of “criminal behavior orders,” a ruling sometimes handed to individuals the court considers “anti-social.”
Hours after the pair’s sentencing today, three Just Stop Oil activists threw soup on two other works from the famous series at the National Gallery, as shown in a video posted by the group on X. Two of the activists involved in today’s protest are 71-year-old retired professor Ludi Simpson and 77-year-old Mary Patricia Somerville.
“Future generations will regard these prisoners of conscience to be on the right side of history,” one Just Stop Oil activist said, following shouts of “No, don’t do that!” from onlookers.
During the original action two years ago, Plummer delivered a speech addressing visitors, while Holland remained silent in front of the painting.
“What is worth more, art or life?” Plummer asked. “The cost of living crisis is part of the cost of oil crisis. Fuel is unaffordable to millions of cold, hungry families. They can’t even afford to heat a tin of soup.”
Just Stop Oil has pushed for an immediate end to fossil fuel development and production in the United Kingdom through several interventions calling attention to climate change. The coalition was responsible for covering Stonehenge in orange powder earlier this summer, and in November 2022, two artists glued themselves to van Gogh’s “Peach Trees in Blossom” (1889). It took them three hours to break free of the tack.
“My choice today is to accept whatever sentences I receive with a smile,” Plummer said to the court today, according to a statement provided by Just Stop Oil. “Knowing that I’ve found peace in doing what I can to prevent countless millions of innocent people from suffering and dying.”
Yesterday, September 26, Greenpeace UK published an open letter asking Judge Christopher Heir to “refrain from punishing Plummer and Holland with custodial sentences for upholding a centuries-old tradition of calling on our social conscience through art.”
However, Heir remained unsympathetic to the protesters, calling Plummer and Holland’s actions “pointless, self-absorbed and self-righteous law-breaking,” according to a statement.
“Prison sentences, no matter how long, will not deter us. We will not stop calling for an end to all extraction and burning of fossil fuels,” Holland said to the court.
