Two women were detained in Stockholm after they threw “some kind of paint” at a painting by French artist Claude Monet and then glued themselves to the frame, Sweden’s National Museum said Wednesday.
The painting, “The Artist’s Garden at Giverny,” was on display as part of an exhibition at the museum. Spokesperson Hanna Tottmar said artwork was encased in glass and “is now being examined by the museum’s conservators to see if any damage has occurred.”
The exhibit, titled “The Garden,” was closed but expected to reopen to visitors on Thursday. ”We naturally distance ourselves from actions where art or cultural heritage risks being damaged … regardless of the purpose,” Per Hedström, the museum’s acting director, said.
Before they were apprehended, the activists smeared red paint on the painting, according to a video of Wednesday’s incident.
“The situation is urgent. As a nurse, I refuse to watch. The pandemic was nothing compared to the climate collapse. It’s about life or death,” one of the women, identified in a news release as Emma Johanna Fritzdotter, shouted.
“People won’t just die from heat stroke. New diseases will spread, and we cannot even imagine the extent of this,” she said.
Helen Wahlgren, the spokesperson for the Restore Wetlands activist group, said the purpose of the museum action was to pressure the Swedish government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
5 thoughts on “What to Do When They Just Won’t Look Up”
It’s primal scream therapy. However, I think Monet would have approved. ‘The Garden’ is a love letter to an actual garden. ‘The Garden’ we choose to worship. The garden we choose to kill. I think Monet would have chosen the garden over ‘The Garden’.
Attacking boats is ok, not defacing Monet. Performance, it serves no useful purpose and poses the danger of pissing off the very people you are trying to reach.
The sense of entitlement of the protesters is breath-taking. Defacing a unique work of art that belongs to all of humanity for a political protest ?!?
Guess what? Monet had nothing at all to do with global warming. Deface the homes of fossil fuel execs, politicians, climate FUD publishers, the Koch brothers and leave precious art the eff alone.
It’s primal scream therapy. However, I think Monet would have approved. ‘The Garden’ is a love letter to an actual garden. ‘The Garden’ we choose to worship. The garden we choose to kill. I think Monet would have chosen the garden over ‘The Garden’.
The garden we are turning ourselves out of
Attacking boats is ok, not defacing Monet. Performance, it serves no useful purpose and poses the danger of pissing off the very people you are trying to reach.
Yes, I support the right to arm bears …
I definitely prefer the gooey tar attacks on oil company buildings. That brings it home.
The sense of entitlement of the protesters is breath-taking. Defacing a unique work of art that belongs to all of humanity for a political protest ?!?
Guess what? Monet had nothing at all to do with global warming. Deface the homes of fossil fuel execs, politicians, climate FUD publishers, the Koch brothers and leave precious art the eff alone.
All criticism aside…. I find the desecration of life on earth to be infinitely more troubling.