Climate activists throw mashed potatoes at a Monet painting in Germany

Two activists from the German climate protection protest group Last Generation attacked a painting by French Impressionist painter Claude Monet this Sunday by throwing mashed potatoes at the work at the Barberini Museum in Potsdam, south of Berlin. The work, belonging to the series Les Meules (The Haystacks) by Monet (1889-1891), was sprayed with a viscous mass, as explained by the museum’s spokeswoman, Carolin Stranz. The responsible group has assured that it is mashed potatoes. Specialized personnel are already working to examine possible damage to the painting. Four people participated in the action, including two activists who threw the viscous mass and glued themselves to the ground. The group posted a video of the attack on Twitter and claimed it was mashed potatoes. In addition, the organization demands the political class take effective measures to limit climate change. On their Twitter profile, they have written: “We make this #Monet the stage and the public the audience. If a painting is needed, with #MashedPotatoes or #TomatoSoup launched, so that society remembers that the course of fossil fuels is killing us all: then, mashed potatoes in a painting!” It belongs to the permanent exhibition of the Barberini Museum, coming from the collection of its founder, the billionaire Hasso Plattner. The Police have limited themselves to confirming that there is an operation underway in the museum.