Prison Time Looms for Young Climate Activists Who Souped Van Gogh’sSunflowers

Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, two protesters affiliated with climate-change action groupJust Stop Oil, were found guilty of criminal damage last week aftersoakingVincent van Gogh’s 1888Sunflowerswith tomato soup in October 2022 at London’s National Gallery. TheBBCreported that Southwark Crown Court judge Christopher Hehir told the twenty-two-year-olds to be “prepared in practical and emotional terms to go to prison” and castigated them for coming “within the width of a pane of glass of destroying one of the most valuable artworks in the world.” The judge banned the pair from entering museums or galleries as a condition of their bail and set their sentencing for September 27.

Plummer and Holland threw the soup at the painting in an effort to bring attention to climate change and its effects, afterward supergluing their hands to the wall under the painting and addressing gallerygoers regarding their concerns. The National Gallery reported that the painting’s frame itself was slightly damaged but that the canvas was unharmed, and the work was returned to public display two days later.

“The government continuously proves that they have little to no interest in attempting to curb climate change,” said Holland’s lawyer, Katie McFadden, who acknowledged that she was disappointed by the verdict and considering an appeal. “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.” McFadden additionally lamented the limitations imposed on the proceedings, which, she said, “prevented Holland and Plummer from fully explaining their motivations while giving evidence.”

Hehir the previous week sentenced five Just Stop Oil protesters, including the group’s founder, Roger Hallam, to record four- and five-year jail terms for conspiring to blocking London’s M25 motorway in November 2022 to protest climate change. Hehir labeled the group “fanatics” in his ruling, which he handed down on July 18, three days before the Earth experienced its hottest day on record, and four days before it broke that record.