Just Stop Oil Activists splash soup on Van Gogh paintings in London protest

The activists targeted Sunflowers 1888 and Sunflowers 1889 during the Poets and Lovers exhibition


Three activists from Just Stop Oil threw soup at two Vincent van Gogh Sunflowers paintings at the National Gallery in London on Friday, September 27.

As per BBC, the activists targeted Sunflowers 1888 and Sunflowers 1889 during the Poets and Lovers exhibition at the National Gallery in central London.

The National Gallery confirmed that the three activists were arrested and that the paintings were not harmed.

This protest occurred just hours after Phoebe Plummer, 23, and Anna Holland, 22, were sentenced for throwing tomato soup on the same London artwork in October 2022 and gluing themselves to the wall beneath it.

A spokesperson for the gallery reported that three individuals, two women and a man, entered Room 6 of the exhibition just after 14:30 BST and threw a soup-like substance on the paintings.

The Metropolitan Police stated that the three people were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage, and their investigation is ongoing.

This incident marks the third time in recent years that artwork at the National Gallery has been targeted for protest.