Climate activists throw liquid on Klimt painting in Vienna

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BERLIN — An Austrian climate activist on Tuesday attacked a famous painting by artist Gustav Klimt with a black oily liquid, causing it to glue itself to the glass that protects the painting’s frame.

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Members of the group Last Generation Austria tweeted that they targeted the 1915 painting “Death and Life” in Vienna’s Leopold Museum to protest the government’s use of fossil energy.

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After throwing liquid on the undamaged painting, one activist was pushed away by museum security and another glued his hand to the glass above the painting’s frame.

The group defended the protests, saying in a tweet that they were protesting “oil and gas drilling”, which they called a “death sentence against society.”

In a video of the incident posted online by the group, one of the activists said, “We’ve known about this issue for 50 years. We finally have to act. , the earth will be destroyed,” is heard screaming.

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“Stop destroying fossil fuels. We are entering climate hell,” he added.

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After the attack, police arrived at the museum and quickly removed the black liquid from the glass protecting the painting, Austrian News Agency reported.

Despite tight controls at the museum entrance, activists managed to bring the liquid inside by hiding it in a hot water bottle under their clothes, the agency reported.

The museum’s restoration team later reported that while there was no damage to the painting itself, damage to the glass and security frames, as well as the walls and floors, was “obvious and significant,” the APA reported.

Hans-Peter Whiplinger, director of the Leopold Museum, told the APA that climate activists’ concerns are legitimate.

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He urged the group to find other ways to make their concerns known.

Austria’s culture minister also expressed understanding of the activists’ “concern and despair” but criticized the form of their protest.

“I do not believe that such actions have a purpose, because the question is whether such actions lead to a lack of understanding, rather than to raising awareness of climate hazards,” said Andrea Meyer. because it happens,” he said.

“In my view, accepting the risk of irreparable damage to works of art is the wrong way to go,” the minister added. “Art and culture are allies, not enemies, in the fight against climate catastrophe.”

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Klimt’s work is in oil on canvas in the Art Nouveau style depicting death on the left and a group of partially naked people embracing on the right. This is his one of the latest works of art targeted by climate change activists to draw attention to global warming.

Various activist groups have staged numerous demonstrations in recent months, including blocking roads in Germany and throwing mashed potatoes at a Claude Monet painting.

British group Just Stop Oil threw tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ in London’s National Gallery last month.

Just Stop Oil activists have framed an early copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, and John Constable’s “Hey Wayne” at the National Gallery. I was also glued to