In Sweden, two environmental activists on Wednesday spread red paint on the window protecting a painting by Claude Monet, before sticking their hands on it, at the national museum in Stockholm. The painting “The Artist’s Garden at Giverny” (1900) is being “examined by the museum’s conservation team to see if it has been damaged”.
Two environmental activists smeared 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, Sweden, police said. “The women, aged around 25 and 30, were arrested,” police said. The organization Återställ Våtmarker (“Restore the Wetlands”) claimed this action with AFP. The work in question is The Artist’s Garden in Giverny (1900).
Emma & Maj, sjuksköterska respektive sjuksköterskestudent, idag i aktion på Nationalmuseum. Läget är så jäkla kritiskt. Därför satte de röda handavtryck & limmade fast sig på skyddsglaset på Monets kända tavla Konstnärens trädgård i Giverny. #återställvåtmarkerpic.twitter.com/Gr0bFzqHDX
— Återställ Våtmarker (@vatmarker) June 14, 2023
The painting being examined
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 spokeswoman 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. 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 not respecting its international commitments in terms of environmental policy. “We should reduce our emissions by 31%. But our emissions continue to increase. It’s outrageous,” said Helen Wahlgren, the group’s spokeswoman.