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Protest Attack At Berlin Museum, While Thwarted At Musée d’Orsay

Fake blood was thrown at a Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Painting at Berlin Museum, while another attack at Musée d’Orsay was stopped by museum authorities.

On Sunday, an unidentified individual threw fake blood at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin. The target of the attack was the painting, titled Clown, by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The individual also glued his hands to the museum floor, before being escorted out by the police. It is not yet clear what were the motivation or affiliations of the protestor.

The painting is currently being examined at the museum’s restoration workshop, but authorities indicated that no serious damage had occurred. Hermann Parzinger (Head, Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation) also added: “I am shocked by this further senseless attack on art, which in this case obviously cannot be assigned to any climate-politically active group.”

The Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin

Protestors at the Musée d’Orsay, however, were not so successful. On Thursday last week, a protestor – reportedly associated with Just Stop Oil – attempted to throw soup at the Paris-based museum. The woman allegedly first wanted to target the iconic “Self-Portrait” by Vincent van Gogh. Sensing the crowd and security around it, she then decided to attack a painting by Paul Gauguin. However, she was intercepted by a security guard before she could succeed. The woman left before she could be arrested, but the museum is pressing charges on the count of attempted damage.

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These two attacks were the latest in a series of politically-motivated attacks on museums and artworks for making a statement. It started with Just Stop Oil protestors throwing soup at a Vincent van Gogh painting but has since spread across the world and been replicated by numerous imitators.