Two members of the environmental group Just Stop Oil staged a protest at the National Gallery in London by throwing tomato soup on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers, a painting of 1888 housed behind glass. The incident occurred on a Friday and quickly circulated across social media, with clips showing the moment the cans hit the surface and the paint-stained frame. The scene drew immediate attention to the ongoing tension between climate activism and public art display, highlighting how acts of civil dissent intersect with cultural heritage.
JUST STOP OIL SUPPORTERS CHOOSING LIFE FROM ART
This gallery is celebrated for its record of human creativity and artistic achievement. Yet the protesters framed their message as a critique of political inaction regarding the climate and the cost of living, linking the urgency of ecological risk to the broader fight for social justice. The messages circulated with hashtags calling for Free Louis and Free Josh, and calls for civil resistance linked to broader campaigns. The organization’s posts dated 14 October 2022 documented the event and framed it as a direct challenge to policy decisions affecting the planet and people.
— Just Stop the Oil ⚖️ (@JustStop_Oil) 14 October 2022
Police later reported that two activists from the group threw a substance at the painting and then struck the wall nearby. Both individuals were arrested on charges of criminal damage and aggravated trespass, according to authorities at the time.
Wearing shirts emblazoned with the organization’s name, the protesters allegedly unleashed two cans of tomato soup onto the familiar 1888 canvas, then knelt before the picture and pressed their hands against the wall beneath it. The act was described as a deliberate attempt to draw attention to issues beyond the art itself.
The tomato soup splashed onto the glass that protects the painting and left stains on parts of the gilded frame, raising questions about whether the message justified the risk to a cultural object of national significance.
RED: SOUP ON TOP OF VAN GOGH’S ‘SUNFLOWERS’
Is art more valuable than life? More than food? More than justice? The protesters framed the question as a direct challenge to the priorities of a society facing a cost of living crisis and a climate emergency driven by fossil fuels. The social media discourse connected the incident to broader campaigns under banners like No New Oil and the A22 Network, emphasizing a link between energy policy, climate risk, and economic hardship.
— Just Stop the Oil ⚖️ (@JustStop_Oil) 14 October 2022
After the disruption, security measures led to the temporary closing of the gallery room and the gradual evacuation of visitors for safety reasons. One of the London-based activists, identified as Phoebe Plumper, publicly questioned the relative value of art versus life, food, and justice. The message articulated that the preservation of a painting should be weighed against real-world stakes, with the claim that the costs of living are part and parcel of the broader cost of the oil era.
The Metropolitan Police stated that officers arrived promptly on the scene and subsequently charged the two demonstrators with malicious damage and gross trespassing. The purpose of the action appeared to be to place climate concerns at the center of a public conversation, even as it triggered debates about the protection of cultural assets and the limits of protest within museum spaces.
The Sunflowers on display at the National Gallery represent one of five versions Van Gogh created during his late period in Arles, in the south of France. The painting, depicting a vase of sunflowers against a warm yellow background, embodies the vitality and immediacy of Van Gogh’s brushwork in 1888. This particular version, like the others from the series, is a landmark in Western art history and a focal point for discussions about conservation, interpretation, and public access to masterworks.