Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ painting doused in soup in London

Two women sprinkled, Friday, October 14 in the morning, tomato soup on the painting of Van Gogh The sunflowers. The two environmental activists glued their hands to the wall of the National Gallery in London (United Kingdom). “What is more valuable, art or life? Are you more concerned about protecting a painting or protecting our planet?”, shouted one of them in front of the cameras. Similar actions had already taken place in London, Florence (Italy) or even at the Louvre in Paris.

These punchy actions, skillfully staged in front of the objectives, struggled to convince public opinion. “It’s always ridiculous to sit down to symbols, and I don’t see what it can do and what it can bring apart from creating a buzz”, said a man, in Paris. The goal is to “multiply the targets to talk about ecology in different spaces”, explains Sylvie Ollitrault, researcher in the sociology of activism at the CNRS.