Monet’s legendary haystacks in Potsdam’s Barberini Museum (archive photo) Photo: picture alliance/dpa
From BZ/dpa
Two activists from the “Last Generation” climate protection protest group attacked a valuable painting by the French impressionist Claude Monet in the Barberini Museum in Potsdam.
A picture from Monet’s series “Les Meules” (Haystacks) (1889-1891) was spattered with a viscous mass, reported museum spokeswoman Carolin Stranz on Sunday. It still has to be checked whether and what damage there was to the picture, said Stranz. The two are said to have glued themselves to the ground. A total of four people were involved in the action.
The protest group posted video of the attack on the painting on Twitter and said mashed potatoes had been thrown at the painting.
In the statement on Sunday, the group called on politicians to take effective measures to limit climate change.
Just over a week ago, environmental activists threw tomato soup at the painting “Sunflowers” (1888) by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh in the National Gallery in London. The frame was slightly damaged.
The picture from the series “Haystacks” hangs in the permanent exhibition of the Museum Barberini from the collection of the donor and multi-billionaire Hasso Plattner. The police only confirmed an operation in the museum.