“Just Stop Oil is likely an entity seeking to smear climate activism.” With these words starts one of the Twitter threads that analyze the attack that this Friday Van Gogh’s painting ‘Sunflowers’ suffered in the National Gallery in London.
A theory according to which the authors of the act against the famous painting what they really intend is to give a bad image to the environmental activists due to climate change. Why?
According to different users of the aforementioned social network, there is a clear link between the main economic supporters of ‘Just Stop Oil’ and an oil tycoon.
The simplest Internet search makes it evident that @JustStop_Oil, the organization behind the Van Gogh painting vandalism, is likely an entity seeking to bring climate activism into disrepute. As many people have not found out, well I’ll tell you.
— Paulo (@cecilos) October 15, 2022
The connection lies with Aileen Getty, founder of the Climate Emergency Found, the main financial backer of the activist platform behind the attack.
It so happens that Aileen is the daughter of John Paul Getty Jr., an American millionaire, and the granddaughter of John Paul Getty, founder of the Getty Oil Company and son in turn of one of the pioneers of the oil business in the United States.
There is, of course, nothing proven or certainty that Aileen has the same interests as her family and a hidden intention to discredit climate activists, but it is a detail that has not been overlooked in networks.
Theories aside, the attack on the painting has gone around the world and has not left the activists in a good place despite the legality of its cause. Few understand that a work of universal interest and incalculable value for the history of art had to be the object of the attack. Fortunately, the National Gallery has confirmed that Van Gogh’s legendary painting was not damaged.