Museum: "Vandalism!"

Activists threw soup at Monet painting in Lyon

(Bild: https://twitter.com/riposte_alim)

Another attack by activists on a work of art: a painting by Claude Monet was pelted with soup in Lyon, France, on Saturday. The attack on the painting "Le Printemps" (Spring) took place in the afternoon, according to the Museum of Fine Arts in France's third largest city. It spoke of "vandalism" and announced a lawsuit.

The Monet painting in question is protected by glass. According to the museum, the work by the French Impressionist, painted in 1872, will be examined for possible damage in the coming days.

Activists for healthy food are behind the attack
The attack was claimed by an activist group called Riposte Alimentaire (roughly: Food Counter-Strike), which says it is fighting for affordable, sustainable and healthy food for all. "We need to act now before it's too late," they told the online service X.

Soup on "Mona Lisa" - activists have to pay money
Activists from the group had thrown pumpkin soup at the "Mona Lisa" in the Louvre in Paris just last month. According to the public prosecutor's office, they are to provide financial support to a victims' association for the attack on the painting by Leonardo da Vinci, which is protected by bulletproof glass.

Recently, there have been attacks on famous works of art in various museums around the world by activists from a wide range of groups. Among the targets were Andy Warhol's "Campbell's Soup" in Australia, Vincent Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" in London and Claude Monet's "Grainstack" in the Barberini Museum in Potsdam. In Vienna's Leopold Museum, Gustav Klimt's painting "Death and Life", which is protected by glass, was covered in black paint at the end of 2022.