Two Just Stop Oil (JSO) activists who threw soup over Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers have been found guilty of criminal damage.
Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, both 22, launched the contents of two tins of tomato soup on to the painting at the National Gallery in central London, later gluing their hands to the wall beneath it.
The gallery previously said the gold-coloured frame of the glass-covered painting was damaged in the October 2022 attack.
At Southwark Crown Court, Judge Christopher Hehir told the pair to be “prepared in practical and emotional terms to go to prison” when they are sentenced on 27 September.
Judge Hehir said they “came within the width of a pane of glass of destroying one of the most valuable artworks in the world”.
He set bail conditions for Plummer, of Clapham in south-west London, and Holland, of Newcastle, which stipulate they must not carry glue, paint or any adhesive substance in a public place, and must not visit any galleries or museums.
Last week, the same judge sentenced five JSO activists to jail terms of between four and five years.
The court heard how Plummer said in front of the painting in 2022: “What is worth more, art or life? Is it worth more than food? Worth more than justice?
“Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting, or the protection of our planet and people?
“The cost-of-living crisis is part of the cost-of-oil crisis.”
Speaking after the verdict, which a number of JSO supporters were in the courtroom to witness, Holland’s solicitor Katie McFadden said she was “extremely disappointed” and was considering an appeal.
“The government continuously proves that they have little to no interest in attempting to curb climate change,” she said.
“They have proven that they have a great deal of interest in investing time and money into prosecuting young people trying to fight for the future of themselves and their children.
“We are disappointed about the limitations imposed, which prevented Holland and Plummer from fully explaining their motivations while giving evidence.”
The painting the defendants attacked, which has been in the National Gallery’s collection for 100 years, shows 15 sunflowers standing in a yellow pot against a yellow background.
The artwork is part of a series of four extraordinary sunflower still lifes that Van Gogh created in less than a week during the summer of 1888 in Arles in the south of France, when a cold northerly wind prevented him from working outdoors.
The priceless piece was the second from the National Gallery to be targeted by JSO in 2022, with two activists gluing themselves to John Constable’s The Hay Wain in July.
Eben Lazarus and Hannah Hunt were found guilty of causing criminal damage in December 2022.
