Saturday 9 November, 2024

That Banksy illustration being shared on social media? It's not actually by Banksy

Image was posted following yesterday’s attack on Charli Hebdo.

FOLLOWING YESTERDAY’S ATTACKS on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in which twelve people were killed, illustrators and artists from all over the world set about sharing cartoons.

Among the accounts to share a cartoon was an account purporting to be managed by renowned graffiti artist Banksy that posted this image yesterday.

banksy banksy / Instagram banksy / Instagram / Instagram

Although it has never been confirmed whether or not Banksy actually runs that Instagram account, the image was immediately attributed to him and shared widely across all forms of social media.

Banksy's response to the #CharlieHebdo Shootinghttp://t.co/LoWKhA5cju pic.twitter.com/qpHaGEyCnM
— 9GAG ❤️ Memeland (@9GAG) January 8, 2015

9GAG / Twitter

Leave it to Banksy to nail a righteous response to Paris shootings. [Cartoon] pic.twitter.com/Ggbx1IjsMx
— ⓖ (@GreggSvingen) January 8, 2015

Gregg Svingen / Twitter

Street artist Banksy's powerful message of perseverance after Paris attack http://t.co/HDvaYGArUp pic.twitter.com/Q0Q3jgOdMW
— Mashable (@mashable) January 8, 2015

Mashable / Twitter

Simply...Banksy.#JeSuisCharlie pic.twitter.com/WA9epUnFlw
— Marco Castelnuovo (@chedisagio) January 7, 2015

Marco Castelnuovo / Twitter

It was also shared by this fan-run Twitter account for Banksy.

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We couldn't find this Tweet

Only problem?

It’s not by Banksy.

The image was actually drawn by French illustrator Lucille Clerc and stolen by the Banksy parody account.

Break one, thousand will rise #CharlieHebdo #JeSuisCharlie #raiseyourpencilforfreedom pic.twitter.com/3n5fOEmrwJ
— Lucille Clerc (@LucilleClerc) January 7, 2015

Lucille Clerc / Twitter

Thankfully many have copped the misattribution this morning and Clerc is receiving credit for her illustration.