Frieze art fair is now in full swing in London. At 11am on October 14, two protestors from the British climate activist group “Just Stop Oil” entered Trafalgar Square (at the center of London) in exhibition room 43 at the National Gallery and splashed a can of tomato soup on Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” painting. They then got down on their knees, smeared glue on their hands, and glued them to the wall in protest. One of them shouted: “Which one is more valuable, art or life? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting, or the protection of our planet and human beings?”
This gesture is often seen in protests by the “Just Stop Oil” group, whose strategy is to stick their hands to an artwork, usually without attacking or destroying it. However, this time it was an exception. Their protest this time was to demand that the British government stop all new oil and gas production projects. They are dissatisfied with the government’s inaction in regards to the cost of living and the climate crisis, which prompted them to their method of attack. After the incident, the police arrived and arrested the two protestors.
The museum said that the painting was not damaged because it was covered in glass, but the frame was slightly damaged. The painting is estimated to be worth 84.2 million US dollars. Many people expressed anger and confusion about what the protesters did, and didn‘t understand the correlation between attacking the paintings and the demands of the protest. “I dont think it’s wise to do this in a public institution, that painting is meant to be shared with everyone”, said Alex Needham, art editor of British newspaper, The Guardian. Art historian Ruth Millington said, “attacking Van Gogh’s most popular works will not get the support of the public, and the most important thing for reform is to get the support of the public.”
Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” is one of his most famous works and an important representative of Post-Impressionism. In 1888 and 18889, he created a series of sunflower paintings in Arles, south of France. There are five different versions of sunflowers in a vase. In addition to these five versions, Van Gogh also painted two other versions, one of which was unfortunately lost during World War II. The painting in the National Gallery is one of Van Gogh’s seven sunflower works and one of the most important collections of the museum. Completed in just three shades of yellow, the entire collection proved that it was possible to create images with multiple variations of a single color. Van Gogh practiced drawing many flowers as he had a soft spot for sunflowers. Unlike other types of flowers, the roughness and unrefined nature of sunflowers are exactly what Van Gogh likes. To Van Gogh, sunflowers have a special meaning and represent gratitude. He always wanted to be known as a sunflower painter and sunflowers have now become synonymous with him.
Article reference source: ARTnews
Top photo：Just Stop Oil's protest at the National Gallery. Photo by Just Stop Oil
Bottom Image：Vincent van Gogh, Sunflowers, 1888. Collection: National Gallery, London. Photo by National Gallery
