TLDR: Both the climate protestors and government officials in France are cowards and lack proper ethical judgement.

On October 14th, 2022 a protest group called Just Stop Oil defaced a famous painting by the renowned late artist Vincent Van Gogh, called “Sunflowers”, shown below. “Sunflowers” was created in 1888 by Van Gogh, and nearly 140 years later it became the first of what would soon be many paintings defaced by the protest group.

The protest group used tomato soup to deface the painting and proceeded to glue themselves to the wall. Naturally, museum police came and escorted the protestors out of the building and down to the police station. The process was orderly and in my judgment it was also apathetic.

I feel as though the police should’ve acted with more urgency than they did. After all, what kind of person would senselessly deface such a great work of art?

Respect For Art

“The arts matter because creativity is an infinite and enduring resource, one to draw upon in both the most joyous and the most challenging of moments. The arts strengthen community bonds, create new means of connection and understanding, and offer a continuous, powerful, and resilient source of individual and collective identity.”

Sarah Burford

Sarah Burford there gives us a great quote of why humans care so deeply for art. Great art triggers emotion in humans which could range from joyous to somber, and has been known to bring confidence to not only their creator and its immediate critic, but also the people who identify themselves as residents of the creator’s area.

The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of NYC and American pride and patriotic ideals. The American people alive now were not alive when France gifted it to the USA in 1885, meaning the figure has a multi-generational appeal. While just one example, all great art brings out the same reaction in its viewers.

To put it simply, art demonstrates the human condition. This is why both art and the artists must be protected.

Cowardice

This is the way the French police handled protestors who defaced one of the most famous paintings in the world: the protestors were peacefully handcuffed after police stood and watched the entire charade, the news outlets covered the news for no more than 2 weeks, and everyone went on with their lives.

To that I say that I’m surprised more strict measures were not taken in response to this. Nothing is stopping another defacing and I feel that this act showed the French government’s attitude towards art as a whole.

Where’s the courage? Where were the hearts of the police officers at when they watched the protestors slowly but inevitably deface such a priceless artifact? It doesn’t seem there was any.

I can only hope that the hearts of the people of France have changed to a degree since this incident to pressure politicians and the people in charge to enforce stricter policies defending timeless art pieces. As for myself, I know my heart has certainly changed.

Primary Source: https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20221014-climate-activists-target-art-van-gogh-s-masterpiece-sunflowers-defaced