On Thursday morning, a supporter of the environmental activist group Last Generation Canada splattered pink paint on Pablo Picasso's 1901 painting *L'hétaïre* at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA). The painting, on loan from the Pinacoteca Agnelli in Turin and featured in the exhibition *Berthe Weill: Art Dealer of the Parisian Avant-garde*, was behind protective glass and showed no immediate damage. The activist, identified only as Marcel, was arrested and charged with mischief under $5,000. The museum reopened the rest of the exhibition after about an hour.
The protest occurred during a severe wildfire season in Canada, with over 250 active fires, particularly in Manitoba. Last Generation Canada called for the creation of a Climate Disaster Protection Agency funded by taxes on the ultra-rich and fossil fuel executives. The incident highlights a growing trend of climate activists targeting art museums to draw attention to environmental crises, raising debates about the value of cultural heritage versus human life. The MMFA had already tightened security in 2022 after similar protests globally, and this action underscores the tension between institutional preservation and urgent climate advocacy.