SMEAR CAMPAIGN

WATCH: Climate Protesters Target Degas Sculpture in D.C.

Two demonstrators covered the plexiglass case holding “Little Dancer Aged Fourteen” in red and black paint.

Protesters smeared the display case holding Edgar Degas’ famed sculpture “Little Dancer Aged Fourteen” at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, video circulating on social media shows. The climate group behind the demonstration, Declare Emergency, identified the protesters as Joanna Smith, 53, and Tim Martin, 54, according to The Washington Post. Before being handcuffed and led out of the gallery by police, Smith and Martin wiped red and black paint across the sculpture’s case and pedestal, and then sat down in front of it. “The Earth is beautiful, and we’re destroying it with climate change,” Smith said. The gallery holding “Little Dancer” was subsequently closed, and the statue itself removed so a conservation team could assess potential damage. Kaywin Feldman, the National Gallery’s director, “unequivocally” condemned the action in a video statement. It marked the latest in a series of similar stunts by climate activists targeting famous works of art around the world in recent months, including a case where a protester glued his head to “Girl With a Pearl Earring” last October.