A woman from Cornwall is one of three people charged with criminal damage after soup was thrown at two Van Gogh paintings in the National Gallery on Friday.
Stephen Simpson, aged 61, of Bradford, West Yorkshire; Phillipa Green, aged 24, of Penryn, Cornwall; and Mary Somerville, aged 77, of Bradford, West Yorkshire, are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today (Monday), the Metropolitan Police said.
The Stop Oil activists were alleged to have poured soup over two Vincent Van Gogh paintings just hours after other members of the group were jailed for damaging the gold frame of the artist’s Sunflowers.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Just Stop Oil said: “BREAKING: 2 VAN GOGH PAINTINGS SOUPED HOURS AFTER PHOEBE AND ANNA SENTENCED.
“3 Just Stop Oil supporters have thrown soup over 2 of Van Gogh(‘s) paintings in the ‘Poets and Lovers’ exhibition at the National Gallery”.
The National Gallery confirmed on Friday the three activists had been arrested and the paintings remain unharmed.
A statement at the time said: “At just after 2.30pm this afternoon, three people entered room six of the National Gallery Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers exhibition.
“They appeared to throw a soup-like substance over two works – Sunflowers (1888, National Gallery, London) and Sunflowers (1889, Philadelphia Museum of Art).
“Police were called and three people have been arrested.
“The paintings were removed from display and examined by a conservator and are unharmed.
“We are aiming to reopen the exhibition as soon as possible.”
Phoebe Plummer, 23, and Anna Holland, 22, were jailed on Friday after causing as much as £10,000 worth of damage to the artwork’s gold-coloured frame when they targeted it at London’s National Gallery.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article