Activists threw pink paint at a glass-protected Picasso art work on the Montreal Museum of Advantageous Arts. (picture by way of Final Technology Canada)
Montreal police arrested a local weather protester after he splashed pink paint on Pablo Picasso’s “L’Hétaire” (1901) yesterday, June 19, on the Montreal Museum of Advantageous Artwork (MMFA). The art work was coated with protecting glass.
Officers arrested a 21-year-old man for mischief after being known as to the museum by safety personnel round 10am, Montreal police advised Hyperallergic. Two different people have been on the scene filming the incident, however they weren’t charged. The protester who threw the paint has since been launched and might be due in court docket at a later date.
The MMFA mentioned in a press release to Hyperallergic that the paint used within the protest was water-based and that workers discovered “no immediate signs of damage to the painting.” The museum is presently conducting a complete assessment.
The museum briefly closed the exhibition to guests and reopened at 11:30am. The portrait has been briefly faraway from show.
The demonstrators have been affiliated with the environmentalist group Final Technology Canada, who posted footage of the incident on X. Within the video, a person recognized as Marcel is proven delivering a quick speech decrying the fires presently raging throughout western and northern Canada.
“There are more than 200 wildfires in Canada at this moment, 83 of which are not protected and are out of control,” Marcel says in entrance of the Picasso work.
‼️ BREAKING: PINK PAINT THROWN ON PICASSO PAINTING!
🖼️This morning Marcel, a Final Technology Canada supporter threw pink paint on L’Hétaire (or La Courtisane au Collier), a Picasso portray within the Musée de Beaux Arts in Montreal. DONATE: https://t.co/AsbXy1uVKb pic.twitter.com/VmpsJbaZvl
— Final Technology (@lastgencanada) June 19, 2025
The blazes in Canada have burned no less than eight million acres thus far, forcing tens of 1000’s of residents to evacuate their houses. In 2023, fires burned greater than 45 million acres within the nation’s 13 provinces and territories. On the time, the smoke pressured cultural establishments so far as New York Metropolis to briefly shutter because of record-breaking air high quality alerts.
“We need a protection agency against climate disasters financed by the billionaire tax,” Marcel says within the video.
MMFA Director Stéphane Aquin mentioned in a press release shared with Hyperallergic that the museum was “deeply dismayed” by the incident.
“It is most unfortunate that this act carried out in the name of environmental activism targeted a work belonging to our global cultural heritage and under safekeeping for the benefit of future generations,” Aquin mentioned.
“Museums and artists alike are allies in the fight for a better world,” Aquin added.
Stemming from the early years of Picasso’s Blue interval, the portray is a part of an exhibition on the MMFA centering on the French Trendy artwork vendor Berthe Weill. It’s on mortgage from the Pinacoteca Agnelli, an artwork gallery primarily based in Turin, Italy.
In a press launch, Final Technology Canada known as on the Canadian authorities to kind a Local weather Catastrophe Safety Company to help residents impacted by the wildfires. The group additional decried the function of billionaires and firms profiting off of fossil fuels.
“The social contract is broken — it’s time for Canadians to disrupt business as usual to ensure our protection and make the rich pay for what they’ve done,” the group wrote.
