October 23, 2022
Mashed Potato Meets Monet: Climate Protest in Potsdam
Days after the Van Gogh soup protest, activists threw mashed potato at a Monet 'Grainstacks' in Potsdam in 2022 — part of a wave of climate actions targeting art.
In October 2022, two activists from the German group Letzte Generation hurled mashed potato at Claude Monet's 'Grainstacks' at the Museum Barberini in Potsdam, then glued their hands beneath it.
It came days after Just Stop Oil threw soup at Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' in London — part of a coordinated wave of protests using beloved paintings to seize the world's attention on climate change.
'What is worth more, art or life?' the protesters demanded. The Monet, protected by glass, was unharmed — but the debate about whether such tactics help or harm the cause raged on long after the potato was wiped away.
Image: “Claude Monet - Haystacks - Google Art Project” — Claude Monet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.