Statement on the incident at the Museum Barberini on 23 October

Monet, Los almiares © 2022 by David von Becker

In the early afternoon of October 23, Claude Monet's painting Grainstacks in the Museum Barberini was pelted with mashed potatoes by two activists of the "Last Generation". Since the painting is protected by glass, it has not suffered any damage according to the immediate conservation examination. Already on Wednesday, October 26, the work will be back on display in the galleries. 

Ortrud Westheider, Director of the Museum Barberini: "I am relieved that the painting has not suffered any damage and that we will soon be able to open the work to the public again. While I understand the activists' urgent concern in the face of the climate catastrophe, I am shocked by the means with which they are trying to lend weight to their demands. It is in the works of the Impressionists that we see the intense artistic engagement with nature. The many landscape paintings in the Hasso Plattner Collection can inspire visitors to reflect on and question their relationship to the environment."  

The work Grainstacks dates from 1890 and is part of the Hasso Plattner Collection. On permanent loan from the Hasso Plattner Foundation, it is on permanent display at the Museum Barberini.