Two environmental activists spread red paint on the window protecting a painting by Claude Monet on Wednesday before sticking their hands on it at the National Museum in Stockholm, police said.
“The women, aged around 25 and 30, were arrested,” police said. The organization Återställ Våtmarker (“Return the Wetlands”) claimed responsibility for the action with AFP. The work in question is “The Artist’s Garden at Giverny” (1900).
The painting is being “examined by the museum’s conservation team to see if it has been damaged,” the museum said in a statement. According to its spokesperson Hanna Tottmar, the team hopes to have “more information” on this subject by Thursday. Återställ Våtmarker has released a video in which two women, one a nurse and the other a student to become one, can be seen painting the window behind which the work is located with red paint.
“We should reduce our emissions by 31%”
They chant, in chorus “the climate situation is urgent! » and « our health is threatened! “. In an interview with AFP, the organization accused the Swedish government of failing to meet its international environmental policy commitments.
“We should reduce our emissions by 31%. But our emissions continue to increase. It’s outrageous, ”said Helen Wahlgren, the group’s spokesperson.