Climate activists throw liquid at Klimt portray in Vienna

Climate activists in Austria on Tuesday attacked a well-known portray by artist Gustav Klimt with a black, oily liquid and one then glued himself to glass defending the portray’s body.

Members of the group Last Generation Austria tweeted that they had focused the 1915 portray “Death and Life” on the Leopold Museum in Vienna to protest their authorities’s use of fossil energies.

After throwing the liquid on the portray, which wasn’t broken, one activist was pushed away by a museum guard whereas one other glued his hand to the glass over the portray’s body.

The group defended the protest, saying in a tweet that they had been protesting “oil and gas drilling,” which they referred to as “a death sentence to society.”

In a video of the incident, which the group posted on-line, one of many activists could be heard shouting that “we have known about the problem for 50 years — we must finally act, otherwise the planet will be broken.”

“Stop the fossil fuel destruction. We are racing into a climate hell,” he added.

After the assault, police arrived on the museum and the black liquid was rapidly cleaned off the glass defending the portray, Austria Press Agency reported.

Despite thorough controls on the museum’s entrance, the activists succeeded in bringing the liquid inside by hiding it in a scorching water bottle underneath their garments, the company reported.

The museum’s restoration staff mentioned later that whereas the portray itself hadn’t been harmed, the harm to the glass and safety framing, in addition to to the wall and flooring, was “evident and significant,” APA reported.

Hans-Peter Wipplinger, the director of the Leopold Museum, informed APA that the considerations of the local weather activists had been justified, “but attacking works of art is definitely the wrong way to implement the targeted goal of preventing the predicted climate collapse.”

He appealed to the group to search out different methods to make their considerations recognized.

Austria’s tradition minister additionally expressed understanding for “the concerns and also the desperation” of the activists, however criticized their type of protest.

“I do not believe that actions like these are purposeful, because the question arises whether they do not rather lead to more lack of understanding than to more awareness of the climate catastrophe,” Andrea Mayer mentioned.

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

The Klimt work is an oil on canvas portray within the Art Nouveau type depicting demise on the left facet and a gaggle of partially bare, hugging folks on the best facet. It’s one of many newest items of artwork to be focused by local weather activists to attract consideration to world warming.

Different activist teams have staged quite a few demonstrations in latest months, together with blocking streets and throwing mashed potatoes at a Claude Monet painting in Germany.

The British group Just Stop Oil threw tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” in London’s National Gallery final month.

Just Stop Oil activists additionally glued themselves to the body of an early copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” at London’s Royal Academy of Arts, and to John Constable’s “The Hay Wain” within the National Gallery.