The two Just Stop Oil (JSO) protestors who hurled soup at Vincent Van Gogh‘s Sunflowers (1888) painting are expected to be sentenced to prison, according to a BBC report.
Held at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, 22-year-old activists Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland “came within the width of a pane of glass of destroying one of the most valuable artworks in the world,” said Southwark Crown Court Judge Christopher Hehir. In the two years since the incident, both Holland and Plummer were prohibited from visiting any museums or galleries, as well as carrying glue, paint or adhesive materials in a public setting.
Holland and Plummer had initially unfurled a can of tomato soup on the glass encasing the centuries-old painting, stating: “What is worth more, art or life? Is it worth more than food? Worth more than justice? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting, or the protection of our planet and people? The cost of living crisis is part of the cost of oil crisis.”
The two must now be “prepared in practical and emotional terms to go to prison” when their case is heard on September 27 by Judge Hehir, who just last week sentenced five JSO activists who committed similar offenses to a prison sentence of up to five years. “The government continuously proves that they have little to no interest in attempting to curb climate change,” said Holland’s lawyer, adding: “They have proven that they have a great deal of interest in investing time and money into prosecuting young people trying to fight for the future of themselves and their children.”
Activists from various countries have targeted art over the past few years to raise awareness to the climate emergency, but the JSO sentencing may have just set a harrowing precedent for others with the same motivations going forward.
