Members of an activist group called Last Generation posted photos and videos online Tuesday showing a protester pouring “black, greasy liquid” on Gustav Klimt’s “Death and Life” painting at the Leopold Museum before security intervened. Another activist is seen trying to cling to the protective barrier in front of the painting. “New oil and gas drilling is a death sentence for humanity,” Last Generation tweeted after the stunt. GERMAN CLIMATE CHANGE ACTIVISTS PUT MASHED POTATOES IN MONET PAINTING Climate protesters poured black liquid on Gustav Klimt’s “Death and Life” on display at a Vienna museum on Tuesday. “People who are still searching and drilling for new oil and gas have blood on their hands – and no amount of sponsorship will ever wash that blood away,” the activist group said. “There can be no pure art with dirty money!” (Letzte Generation Österreich) The group is calling for laws to reduce speed limits on motorways to 100km/h (about 62mph), which it claims will save 460 million tonnes of CO2 a year in Austria and reduce noise and air pollution. Last Generation organized the protest on a day when the public had free admission to the museum for St. Leopold’s Day, an event sponsored by OMV, an oil and gas company. FLASHBACK: FOUNDER OF CLIMATE GROUP WHICH VANDALS FAMOUS PAINTING SAYS HOLOCAUST WAS ‘NORMAL’ A man films “Death and Life”, a painting by Gustav Klimt, at the Leopold Museum in Vienna, January 28, 2016. (Vladimir Simiçek/AFP via Getty Images) “People who are still searching and drilling for new oil and gas have blood on their hands – and no amount of sponsorship will ever wash that blood away,” the activist group said. “There can be no pure art with dirty money!” Climate activists from various groups have attempted in recent months to deface paintings and affix themselves to other artworks in museums across Europe. On November 11, radical environmentalists in Norway tried and failed to stick Edvard Munch’s 1889 painting “The Scream” in a museum in Oslo. Last month, two activists were arrested in London, England, after they threw cans of tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh’s painting Sunflowers.
Two protesters kneel after throwing soup at Vincent van Gogh’s famous 1888 painting “Sunflowers” at the National Gallery in London, October 14, 2022. (Just Stop Oil via AP) BIG OIL HEIRESS FUNDING GROUP “JUST STOP OIL” THAT BROUGHT SOUP TO THE VAN GOGH PAINTING People view Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” at the National Gallery in Oslo, Norway, January 13, 2019. (Heiko Junge/NTB Scanpix via AP, file) Museum officials told reporters at a news conference that the museum had increased security following these recent attacks, and Klimt’s 1915 work “Death and Life” was not harmed by Tuesday’s protest. “Fortunately the artwork was not damaged. However, we are shocked that the Leopold Museum was in the spotlight here,” museum director Hans-Peter Wipplinger told a news conference, according to Reuters. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP While Wipplinger said the museum sympathized with the activists’ cause, he condemned the protest and said Last Generation would be charged for the deployment and cleanup of the police, estimating the cost to be at least five figures in euros. It is unclear if the activists were arrested. Chris Pandolfo is a writer for Fox News Digital. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @ChrisCPandolfo.