Two climate protesters have been charged for smearing paint on a glass case containing a Degas masterpiece in Washington DC.
Tim Martin and Joanna Smith, both 53, were taken into custody Friday after being charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and damage an art exhibit.
According to an indictment, both Martin and Smith smeared paint on the case and base of Degas’ Little Dancer, Age Fourteen at the National Gallery of Art last month.
According to the Justice Department, the two caused about $2,400 in damage and the exhibit had to be removed from public display for 10 days while it was repaired.
Each charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Tim Martin and Joanna Smith were taken into custody on Friday after being charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and damaging an art exhibition
According to the Justice Department, the two caused about $2,400 in damage and the exhibit had to be removed from public display for 10 days while it was repaired
The indictment further alleges that the two, along with other uncharged co-conspirators, agreed to enter the gallery and damage the exhibition.
Martin and Smith are accused of throwing paint from water bottles at the exhibit and then smearing it onto the artwork’s case and base.
A video of the incident was captured and shared widely on social media and with news organizations.
Martin can be heard saying “I’m sorry” to a viewer while squirting black paint into the glass case surrounding the statue.
The two throw black and red paint at the base and glass and continue to destroy the artwork as a group of spectators looks on.
They then sit in front of the artwork with their hands outstretched before being dragged away by police officers.
Earlier this week, Martin posted a video of himself defending his actions through activist group Declare Emergency.
In a video, he said, “The idea is that we wake people up with a shock, and we do it in a way that engages and invites their emotional centers.”
Tim Martin, pictured, said in a video that he wanted to shock people into the climate crisis
His co-conspirator Joanna Smith, pictured here, traveled to DC from her home in New York to attend the protest
Martin said he smeared paint on the statue’s case, damaging the artwork, to send a message about the gases heating the planet
“We want to activate people’s emotions so that they stop ignoring, turning around and looking away, because we can no longer afford to look away.”
The activist group Declare Emergency recruits volunteers who agree to be arrested and regularly holds protests to pressure the Biden administration to radically limit fossil fuel use.
A spokeswoman told that damage was done to an “inherently fragile figure” made of wood, clay, rope, paintbrushes, padding, lead and wire, coated with a thin layer of beeswax.
“Damage is compounded by any movement, whether it’s vibration caused by hitting the plexiglass cover or physically moving the sculpture to a different location,” the spokeswoman said.
“The April 27 attack brought about both conditions.”
The climate protesters were arrested after smearing paint on the case of Edgar Degas’ Little Dancer Aged Fourteen at the National Gallery of Art in Washington
Gallery 3 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC was closed after the protest and Little Dancer was not on display until May 8th
Dozens of employees, including carpenters, registrars, art dealers, conservators, scientists and pictorial specialists, were involved in repairs and cleanups – at significant cost to the taxpayer-funded gallery.
Gallery 3 remained closed for the remainder of the day as police surveyed the crime scene, and the statue was not on public view again until May 8. The air-conditioned protective cover had to be extensively repaired.
“Even if cracks do not appear altered to the naked eye, microscopic and cumulative damage is always a cause for concern,” the spokeswoman said.
“Little Dancer Aged Fourteen needs to be monitored regularly and extensively in the future to detect any changes in the cracks or other elements of her composition.”
Declare Emergency released video of the two protesters smearing paint, naming them and saying in a statement they had been arrested.
Climate activists have increasingly turned to the destruction of artworks to draw attention to the release of gases that are heating the planet – but most of these antics have been aimed at European galleries.
Last year, activists splashed soup on a Vincent van Gogh painting in Rome and another at London’s National Gallery.
In Australia, activists have graffitied and pasted themselves on Andy Warhol’s art, while others in The Hague have pasted on Johannes Vermeer’s painting Girl with a Pearl Earring.