5 times climate activists vandalised paintings worth millions of dollars

In the past few years, climate change activists have engaged in a new form of protest and activism. They have begun vandalising expensive artworks as a provocative means to focus attention on the urgent need for environmental action. The activists aim to garner attention by defacing valuable art, spark dialogues about climate change and scream slogans to stop big companies from further depleting the limited resources.
But, this strategy is contentious, as it raises ethical and legal dilemmas and not all activists endorse these methods. Here we list 5 artworks that were vandalised by climate change activists.

(Image: Junkee, Bon Pote)

In May 2021, a climate change activist, disguised as an elderly lady in a wheelchair tried to deface the Mona Lisa by smearing cake on the painting.
The activist gained close access to the Mona Lisa with the handicapped spot near the painting and when he was close enough, he got out of the wheelchair and smeared cake over the bulletproof glass that protects the painting. When he was detained by the guards on duty, the activist shouted in French, “Think about the Earth. There are people who are destroying the Earth. Think about it ... all artists, think about the Earth — this is why I did this. Think about the planet.”
While no real harm was done to the painting owing to the protective case, the man faced charges of trying to ruin cultural artifacts.

(Image: Junkee)

In October 2022, two activists from ‘Letzte Generation’ (Last Generation) group staged a protest at the Museum Barberini by spraying Monet's Les Meules (Haystacks) painting with potatoes and then gluing their hands to the wall. The protestors revealed that they wanted to make people aware of the urgency of the situation with respect to climate change. They also expressed frustration over how, to society, damage to mere paintings was more concerning as compared to the damage to our atmosphere.
Again, no damage was done to the artwork as it was protected by glass and their glued hands were removed from the wall.

(Image: Nextatv/X)

Another incident occurred in October 2022 when two activists from ‘Just Stop Oil’ threw tomato soup on a prized Van Gogh painting ‘Sunflower’. After throwing soup on the painting, the two activists glued their hands to the wall below the painting and screamed to get people’s attention. One of the activists asked the crowd what mattered more to them, art or life. She remarked how inflation had made oil and fuel so expensive that some families could not even afford to consume a can of soup.
Again, the painting was not harmed as it was behind a glass, but the glass did sustain some marks on it.

(Image: Bon Pote)

In November 2022, two climate activists tried to glue themselves to ‘The Scream’ which is Edvard Munch’s most famous painting. While no harm was caused to the painting kept at the Oslo Museum, police did find some glue residue on the glass that protected the painting.
The activists shouted that they ‘scream’ when lawmakers choose to ignore science, pointing at how many global leaders thought of climate change as a hoax.

(Image: Pinterest)

On November 6, 2023, two climate change activists smashed the protective glass cover that was over Diego Velazquez’s famous oil painting, ‘The Rokeby Venus’. The video doing rounds on social media shows tiny holes and cracked glass frames after the activists hammered it four to five times. The activists claimed that the government was failing the people and were then detained.

(Image: Artlyst)