Now German protesters smeared mashed potatoes upon Monet’s “Les Meules”
As a form of protest against the mining of fossil fuels, a group of climate activists in Potsdam, Germany, tossed mashed potatoes onto a picture by Claude Monet. There was thankfully no harm to the artwork.
It was stated that two activists from the group Letzte Generation threw mashed potatoes onto the picture “Les Meules” that was on display at the Barberini Museum in that city.
The group posted a video of the occurrence to Twitter with the caption, “If it takes a painting – with #PuréDePotatoes or #TomatoSoup thrown in – for society to remember that the course of fossil fuels is killing us all: Then we’ll give you #PuréDePotatoes in a painting!”
DPA claims that a total of four people were involved in the incident. The museum staff afterwards noted that the painting was unharmed because of the protective glass. The piece was taken down so that the glass could be cleaned, but it will be back on display on Wednesday. The piece ‘Les Meules’ can be found in the ‘Haystacks’ group of works.
“While I understand the urgent concern of activists in the face of climate catastrophe, I am surprised at the means by which they are trying to give weight to their demands,” said Ortrud Westheider, the museum’s director.
The goal of the climate activist groups attacking Monet’s artwork is to bring attention to and awareness of global warming.
A similar group, the British Just Stop Oil, splashed tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” at the National Gallery in London only a few weeks ago.
There have been similar incidents with other paintings by the same group, including an old copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and John Constable’s “The Hay Wain” at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.
