This is the infuriating moment a climate activist defaced a Monet painting Paris’ Musée d’Orsay by sticking a protest sign over the famed work of art.
The protester, from French environmental activist group Riposte Alimentaire (‘Food Counterattack’), targeted ‘Poppy Field’ by Claude Monet, defacing it with a sticker that covered half the painting with an apocalyptic vision of the same scene.
The group said it’s purpose is to show how the field would look ‘ravaged by flames and drought’ in the year 2100, if more action isn’t taken against climate change.
The museum, known in French as the Musee d’Orsay, is a top tourist destination and home to some of the world’s most-loved Impressionist works.
The woman was detained pending investigation, according to Paris police.
It was unclear whether the incident damaged the painting and the museum did not respond to requests for comment.
It was the latest of several actions by protesters from the group to target artworks in France to call for action to protect food supplies from further damage to the climate.
In January, two members of the group were arrested after throwing soup at the Mona Lisa before shouting climate slogans at the gathered crowd at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
They sprayed the 16th-century masterpiece by Leonardo Da Vinci with pumpkin soup as they demanded the right to ‘healthy and sustainable food’.
The group have taken responsibility for the demonstration on their own website in, what they call, ‘Wave 1’ of their action.
In February, the group disrupted the European Bioethics Forum, a debate in Strasbourg, France, by walking on stage and demanding action for their cause.
A few days later, they hurled soup at Claude Monet’s ‘Le Printemps’ (Spring) inside the Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon, France.
The 1872 painting was protected by glass, but still underwent a close inspection and restoration, the museum said after the incident.
The following month, Riposte Alimentaire disrupted the Saut Hermes 2024, an annual horse jumping show in Paris, with members infiltrating the arena to hold a protest banner.
Last month, the group threw orange powder over the floor of the Palace of Versailles’ famous Hall of Mirrors building and chanted their calls for establishing social security for sustainable food in the country.
They are advocating for a monthly vital food card loaded with 150 Euros for all citizens to purchase democratically approved products, saying that there is a ‘widening gap between the privileged few and the majority struggling to make ends meet’.