Two eco-activists arrested after they glued themselves to the frame of John Constable’s masterpiece The Hay Wain at the National Gallery have been freed on bail pending further police enquiries.
Brighton students Hannah Hunt, 23, and Eben Lazarus, 22, both members of the group Just Stop Oil, were held after sticking paper on the 200-year-old picture.
Widely regarded as John Constable’s most famous landscape, the six-foot Hay Wain (1821) shows an idyllic rural scene with a cart in the River Stour in Suffolk.
It is one of the gallery’s most popular exhibits.
The activists also slapped a reimagined version on top of the masterpiece that “depicts a nightmare scene that demonstrates how oil will destroy our countryside”.
BREAKING: Eben Lazarus said: "I support Just Stop Oil demanding an end to new oil and gas in the UK immediately. I want to work in the arts not disrupt them, but we must do everything non-violently possible to prevent the total collapse of our ordered society." pic.twitter.com/XwfmDpIbQo
— TalkTV (@TalkTV) July 4, 2022
Met Police said the pair had been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage but have now been bailed pending further enquires.
A spokesman for Just Stop Oil said no damage was caused and “low tack material” was used to stick the paper up, adding: “If people are more concerned about a painting than the deaths of millions of people around the world then they need to get their priorities sorted.”
The gallery said: “The Hay Wain suffered minor damage to its frame and there was also some disruption to the surface of the varnish on the painting.”
