Judge Throws the Book at Climate Activists Who Threw Soup on Van Gogh Painting

The two environmental activists who threw a can of tomato soup on Vincent Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” painting have been sentenced to two years in prison.

In October of 2022, Phoebe Plummer, then 21, and Anna Holland, then 20, entered London’s National Gallery museum and proceeded to douse the well-known work with soup. Both activists, who are affiliated with the group Just Stop Oil, then glued themselves to the wall next to the painting and used the subsequent social media spectacle to broadcast their concerns about climate change to the world. The two activists were sentenced Friday in Southwark crown court in London for having caused an estimated £10,000 of damage to the painting’s frame, The Guardian reports.

In a statement released the same day as the sentencing, Just Stop Oil noted that “Plummer and Holland knew the painting was protected from the soup by a solid pane of glass when they threw the red-orange missive, making a Pollock-esque splatter across the mustard yellow, drooping blooms.” Relevantly, Van Gogh’s painting was not damaged as a result of the incident.

“My choice today is to accept whatever sentences I receive with a smile, knowing that I’ve found peace in doing what I can to prevent countless millions of innocent people suffering and dying. I’ve found peace in acting on my conscience,” said Plummer, in a statement.

Holland, meanwhile, said the following: “We do not expect justice from a broken system that has been corrupted by its dependence on fossil fuels. Prison sentences, no matter how long, will not deter us.”

It’s easy to feel sympathy for these girls. They clearly thought they were doing the right thing and two years is a long time to spend behind bars, especially when you’re as young as they are. That said, the sentence, while severe, really isn’t that surprising. In California, the recommended punishments for felony vandalism can be anywhere from one to three years. A two year sentence—especially for vandalism involving a beloved work of art—makes legal sense.

The effectiveness of Just Stop Oil’s strategy also requires inspection. Climate change is obviously a very important issue and efforts to draw attention to it should be commended. That said, I think it’s inarguable that defacing great works of art is a stupid way to do that.

Indeed, what was the message that the general public was supposed to take away from this? People like art. People like Van Gogh. He didn’t ruin the atmosphere. It seems pretty obvious that the casual observer—one with limited information about this group or the issues it cares about—was always destined to be confused about what one thing had to do with the other. The whole thing could aptly be characterized as as a high-risk, low-yield strategy.

These girls don’t belong in prison, but they also probably need to rethink just what exactly it is they’re trying to accomplish and how to accomplish it.