Oil protesters seem in court docket after throwing soup at Van Gogh portray

The local weather activists who threw soup over Vincent Van Gogh’s well-known “Sunflowers” portray on Saturday appeared in a London court docket on fees of prison damages, a number of shops reported.

The 2 ladies had been protesting as a part of the marketing campaign group Simply Cease Oil, and so they pleaded not responsible on the Westminster Magistrates’ Court docket throughout two transient hearings.

After dumping two cans of tomato soup over the Van Gogh oil portray Friday, the protesters additionally glued themselves to the gallery wall. They had been eliminated by specialists and brought into custody, in line with the London Metropolitan Police.

A spokesperson for the Nationwide Gallery confirmed that there was no injury to the portray, which is among the iconic variations of “Sunflowers” that Van Gogh painted within the late Eighties. It has an estimated worth of $80.99 million.

“There may be some minor injury to the body however the portray is unhurt,” the spokesperson instructed CNBC. The portray was coated by glass, and it was cleaned and returned to the Nationwide Gallery Friday afternoon.

Simply Cease Oil has been protesting in London for the previous two weeks, and the group mentioned in a press launch that its actions had been “in response to the federal government’s inaction on each the price of dwelling disaster and the local weather disaster.”

“What’s value extra, artwork or life? Is it value greater than meals? Price greater than justice? Are you extra involved in regards to the safety of a portray or the safety of our planet and other people?” one activist mentioned in a video of the occasion.

Simply Cease Oil has acquired widespread criticism from environmental teams and politicians from the opposition Labour Social gathering following the protest.