The directors of around 100 art galleries have expressed their shock over the recent attacks on popular masterpieces, stating that climate activists targeting these works are severely undermining their delicacy.
This year, several eminent artworks were under attack from protestors that belonged to different activist groups as they demanded stern action against the ongoing climate crisis.
Some of these incidents include activists from Just Stop Oil tossing tomato soup on Vincent van Gogh’s famous artwork of 1888 ‘Sunflowers’ at London’s National Gallery, a German environmental group throwing mashed potatoes at a painting by legendary French painter Claude Monet.
A joint statement released online by a group of gallery directors stated that the number of attacks on art galleries had increased at a worrying rate, which not only endangered their lifespan, but also underestimated their fragility.
The statement was signed by 100 directors of high-end art institutions, with many of them becoming a victim of the latest attacks by climate crusaders. Some of these galleries include the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) in New York, the British Museum in London, the Louvre in France, and Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain.
Till date, multiple galleries have maintained stoic silence over these attacks to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to them or their security protocols. However, none of the attacks have caused a significant or permanent damage to the art pieces, as many of them are protected by glass.
When asked about the motive behind these provocations, climate activists claimed that they were targeting the most famous masterpieces to not damage them but bring the media’s attention to the long-term harm caused by climate crisis.
However, according to credible sources, these protests are far from over, as many climate organizations and environmental groups have declared that they would continue targeting these galleries to intensify action against climate change.