In protest against climate change, activists stick themselves to a Van Gogh painting

Two activists have framed a Vincent van Gogh painting at the Courtauld Gallery in London, to protest the art world’s apparent complicity with climate change.

Louis McKechnie, 21, and Emily Brocklebank, 24, affixed themselves to Peach Trees in Blossom, a painting of Van Gogh’s French countryside completed in 1889, just weeks after his ear was cut off during a period of mental instability. It is unclear if the trick damaged the board.

Both belong to Just Stop Oil, a group lobbying the UK government to stop the licensing of fossil fuels and to invite cultural institutions to “join them in the civil resistance”.