Musée d'Orsay, activist attaches sticker poster to Monet masterpiece. Arrested

Another attack on art by activists supporting this or that cause. On the morning of June 1, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris was hit with a masterpiece by Claude Monet, currently on display at the major exhibition on the birth of Impressionism being held at the French museum. An activist from the group “Riposte Alimentaire” attached an adhesive poster to Monet’s Coquelicots (Poppies): the action was captured on video. The poster depicts an altered version of Monet’s bright red painting. “This nightmarish image,” the activist said during his protest, “is what awaits us if no alternatives are proposed.” The reference is to French government predictions that between now and the year 2100 the average global temperature will rise by four degrees.

The young woman was arrested. According to French sources, the work was not damaged. "An activist stuck a poster on the glass protecting Claude Monet’s Coquelicots before gluing herself to the wall with her hands. This person was arrested and is now in custody. The museum is planning to press charges,“ a Musée d’Orsay official told the French version of the Huffington Post. ”After being examined and treated by a restorer,“ the manager later told AFP, ”the work has been hung again. The exhibition is now fully accessible to the public."

The Riposte Alimentaire group is no stranger to egregious protests: they had made themselves conspicuous just a couple of weeks ago by attaching stickers around Delacroix’s Liberty, while last February they threw soup at Monet’s Spring at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon. Harsh comments came from French Culture Minister Rachida Dati, who entrusted her comment to Twitter: "Once again a cultural institution and a work of art are targeted by iconoclasts: the painting Les Coquelicots by Claude Monet at the Musée d’Orsay! This destruction of art by thugs cannot be justified in any way. It must stop! I have contacted the Minister of Justice for the development of a criminal measure suitable for this new form of delinquency that attacks the most noble aspect of our cohesion: culture! Total support for the workers of the Musée d’Orsay who allow access to culture and works of art to all and who suffer violence from those for whom culture is a luxury!"

Musée d'Orsay, activist attaches sticker poster to Monet masterpiece. Arrested

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