It was a surprising image: a spear-toting primitive man pushing something very like a shopping cart.
Perhaps less surprisingly, this bit of “cave art” had been placed in the British Museum by a prankster.
The spoof was claimed by Banksy, the self-styled “art terrorist” who has previously placed fakes in galleries. A note posted on Banksy’s website said he painted the image on a piece of rock found in London.
The website claimed the spoof had been in the museum “for quite some time”, while the museum said it had been a couple of days.
The prankster had stuck the rock to a wall in a museum gallery, along with this information: “This finely preserved example of primitive art dates from the post-Catatonic era and is thought to depict early man venturing towards the out-of-town hunting grounds.
“The artist responsible is known to have created a substantial body of work across the south-east of England under the moniker Banksymus Maximus, but little else is known about him.” — Sapa-AP
On the net:
www.banksy.co.uk