A Stockholm court on Monday acquitted six activists who smeared red paint on the display cade protecting a Claude Monet painting, ruling that they had not intended to damage the work.
The painting, The Artist’s Garden at Giverny (1900), was on loan from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris to the National Museum of Sweden as part of an exhibition on Impressionists and gardens when, in June 2023, two young women spread paint onto the glass covering the vibrant depiction of pink and purple irises.
The environmental group Återställ Våtmarker (Restore Wetlands) claimed responsibility for the incident and released footage of the action on Twitter and Facebook, in which the activists chant “The climate situation is urgent” and “Our health is threatened.” In an interview with AFP, a spokesperson from the group added that “gorgeous gardens like those in Monet’s painting will soon be a distant memory.”
That spokesperson also urged the Swedish government to honor its climate commitments: “We should lower our emissions by 31 percent. But our emissions are still increasing. It’s outrageous.”
The National Museum confirmed that the painting itself was unharmed. The two women, along with four other members of the group, were charged with vandalism. In its ruling, the court, noting that the defendants had chosen a work protected by glass and used water-soluble paint, accepted their argument, that they did not intend for irreversible harm—though the court acknowledged that some paint was applied to the frame.
The museum told the AFP it is “naturally” opposed to actions that risk damaging art. “Cultural heritage has great symbolic value and it is unacceptable to attack or destroy it, regardless of the purpose,” said Per Hedstrom, the museum’s acting superintendent.
A wave of climate protests has hit high-profile cultural institutions in recent years. The activist have claimed that their divisive strategy of targeting famous artworks are necessary to force citizens and governments to combat the accelerating climate crisis while time still remains to act.
