Protestors from Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) campaign group staged a “die-in’ on 3 September at the Courtauld Gallery in London. The five demonstrators laid across the LVMH Great Room exhibition space in the gallery while another protestor held a sign stating: “Artists create. LVMH kills.” The demonstrators were dressed in snakeskin-patterned clothes streaked with red lines.
The campaign group said it was protesting “fashion house LVMH’s continued use of wild animals’ skin in its collections”. PETA senior campaigns manager Kate Werner adds in a statement: “PETA is calling on LVMH to cut cruelty from its collections by ending its shameful sale of wild animals’ skin and fur.”
A spokesperson for Peta tells The Art Newspaper that the protest was peaceful and no arrests were made. The Courtauld Gallery did not respond to a request for comment; LVMH was contacted for comment.
LVMH is owned by Bernard Arnault, who is also the founder of the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris and France’s richest man.
The Courtauld’s collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces is displayed in the gallery’s LVMH Great Room. Highlights include Édouard Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (1882), Vincent van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889), and a significant collection of paintings by Paul Cézanne.