Two climate activists dumped mashed potatoes on a glass-covered painting by celebrated French Impressionist Claude Monet inside a German museum on Sunday, the latest artistic attack aimed at drawing attention to climate change.
The videos show the activists, with a thick yellow substance. The oil on canvas is one of 25 paintings the artist made around 1890 of haystacks in the fields near his home in Giverny, France.
The activists, a man and a woman, each taped a hand to the wall next to the painting. The woman then shouted in German that the world was in “a climate catastrophe, and the only thing you’re afraid of is tomato soup or mashed potatoes in a box,” referring to a similar attack this month in London. by activists who threw tomato cans. soup in a painting by Vincent van Gogh.
The Barberini Museum in Potsdam, Germany, which had the work on display, said in a statement that the activists were associated with Last Generation, an advocacy group dedicated to climate change issues.
The museum said the food did not cause any damage to the piece, which sold for nearly $1,000 in 2019. The painting will go back on display Wednesday, the museum added.
Last Generation the woman who attacked painting as Mirjam Herrmann, 25 years old. The group identified the other activist as Benjamin, but did not provide a last name. They were booked into jail on Sunday, according to a Twitter post from Last Generation.
The reasons behind the protests
Across Europe, climate protesters have tried to capture headlines in recent months by engaging in similar attacks linked to beloved pieces in the art world. In Britain, activists included a 16th-century copy at the Royal Academy, a major art museum in London. And in Italy, activists have glued themselves to works in the Gallery of .
Activists seem to be targeting works of art with global resonance, hoping to bring about change in the world.
