Two climate activists have smeared red paint and glued their hands to the protective glass on a painting by Claude Monet at Sweden’s National Museum in Stockholm.
The incident, which took place on 14 June, is shown in footage released by environmental organisation Återställ Våtmarker (Restore Wetlands) on Twitter and Facebook.
It was also confirmed to CNN by the museum’s press office, which said two protestors smeared paint on The Artist’s Garden at Giverny, a 123-year-old artwork by Monet.
“Two people made handprints with some kind of paint on an artwork by the artist Monet in the exhibition ‘The Garden – Six Centuries of Art and Nature’ and then glued themselves to the glass,” the press office told the publication.
“The painting, which is encased in glass, is now being inspected by museum conservators to determine whether there is any damage.”
The work is on display at the National Museum as part of an exhibition titled ‘The Garden – Six Centuries of Art and Nature’ through a loan from from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
Police were called to the scene and arrested two women according to a press release from the Stockholm region police, which confirmed: “The crime is currently classified as aggravated vandalism.
Environmental protests at art institutions
“It is unclear whether more people than the two arrested are involved in the incident, but a number of people have been checked and the police will, among other things, review the course of events with the help of the museum’s surveillance cameras.”
The latest protest follows a series of climate demonstrations at museums and institutions across the world, including Madrid’s Prado Museum, London’s National Gallery and Oslo’s National Museum of Art.
Earlier this month, climate activists protested outside New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and called on the institution to drop its board chair, Marie-Josée Kravis.
Lead image credit: Återställ Våtmarker
