If you ask me, trying to sell forged Damien Hirst paintings to the rich makes you the biggest class war hero since the guy who tried to sell fake wine to the rich, not someone who deserves jail time. People who buy real Damien Hirst paintings deserve jail time.
Your Guide to the Damien Hirst-Gagosian Gallery Split

The Financial Times reported this week that the world's richest artist is ending his partnership with one of the world's richest galleries. As with all Rich People Scandals, it's got everything your heart could desire: mass butterfly graves, lawsuits from British celebrities and Floridian nonagenarian, and snide NYT…
Artist Puts Prescription Pills All Over $50,000 Backpack from The Row; Mary-Kate Finally Able to Eat Her Bag
Do you hate the way you're always losing loose prescription pills at the bottom of your backpack and then your French boyfriend is like, "OÙ SONT THE PILLS? J'AI BESOIN DE PILLS!" And you're like, "My arms don't reach! My arms don't reach!"?
Let the Web's Greatest Art Critic Teach You About the Latest Rich People Art Thing
Long story short, British artist Damien Hirst has been doing these "spot paintings" for a while—they are, literally, paintings of spots; also, technically they are "done" by his assistants—and now he's retrieved them all from collectors and distributed them among 11 Gagosian Galleries in eight countries, and is …
'Kristen Stewart a Key Player in Prostitution Case'
In which we discover the sexiest way to report a starlet's jury duty. Tiger Woods exits sex rehab, Madonna and Jesus Luz are still together, and Howard Stern declines American Idol's judging gig. Friday gossip isn't afraid to say 'no.'
PETA Takes Aim at Hirst, Armstrong
Damien Hirst thrives on creating controversy. (One of his first works to garner attention was that dead shark suspended in formaldehyde, which is now part of hedge fund mogul Steve Cohen's collection.) So it's hardly a surprise that he's stirring the pot once again. But this time Lance Armstrong gets to go along for…
Happy Birthday
Suze Orman turns 58 today. Billionaire financier Pete Peterson is turning 83. Teen Vogue editor Amy Astley is 42. Post columnist Andrea Peyser is turning 50. Journalist Bill Moyers is 75. Mark Wahlberg is turning 38. Pete Wentz is 30. Author Chuck Klosterman is 37. Comedian Jeff Garlin is 46. Laurie Anderson, the…
Art With a Long Shelf Life
[Artist Damien Hirst's "In this terrible Moment we are victims clinging helplessly to an environment that refuses to acknowledge the soul" on display at a soon-to-open new modern art museum in Munich; image via Getty]
Hollywood Cuts Back, The Anna Preview
• Believe it or not, but some celebrities have been forced to wear the same outfit twice now that we're in the middle of a recession. Or (like Lindsay Lohan, left) they're now passing their hand-me-downs to family members. Sad times, friends, sad times. [NYDN]
• A preview of the 60 Minutes segment on Anna Wintour…
Pretentious Art Scene About To Jump The Formaldehyde Shark
Last year sad old party boy Jay McInerney went to Art Basel Miami Beach, the American version of the fabulous Swiss art fair, and dutifully chronicled the schmoozy, hideous glitz of its high-end billionaire clientele, its so-un-self-aware-it's-almost-hip pretension, its insanely high sales figures. What a horror show…
Damien Hirst Admits His Art Was Overpriced
Damien Hirst isn't the least bit troubled about last week's disappointing art auctions, or that one of his own works, a painting of four skulls called "Beautiful Artemis Thor Neptune Odin Delusional Sapphic Inspirational Hypnosis Painting," found no takers. It's actually a good thing! Hirst now says the art market…
Phillips de Pury Sale Comes Up Short
You would think that after the dismal performances of the contemporary art sales at Christie's and Sotheby's earlier this week, sellers might recognize the need to reduce reserve prices if they were to have any hope of selling anything. At Phillips de Pury & Co.'s auction last night, estimates set before the markers…
Another Slow Night at Sotheby's
Not even the presence of high-profile collectors like Steve Martin, Valentino, and billionaire Eli Broad (who dropped $8 million on works by Ed Ruscha, Jeff Koons, Robert Rauschenberg, and Donald Judd) could save last night's Sotheby's contemporary art sale from being a big disappointment. Twenty paintings,…
Charlotte Ronson for JCPenney, Men's Vogue Cuts Back
♦ A first look at Charlotte Ronson's line for JCPenney, I Heart Ronson, and her new $30 dresses. [Nylon]
♦ Details on the cuts at Men's Vogue: The mag will be published just two times next year and publisher Marc Berger is leaving. The fate of other staffers is unclear. [Mediaweek]
♦ Damien Hirst's latest…
Dead Animals in Formaldehyde Sell For Millions, But Not Everyone's Happy
The huge sum of $125 million for animal-loving British artist Damien Hirst's London Sotheby's auction set a new record for a sale of a single artist's work, which should be a relief for the contemporary art market. "Golden Calf," a bull suspended in a tank of formaldehyde, sold for $18 million and also became the…
A Record Night for Damien Hirst
American hedge funders might be too nervous to blow millions on contemporary art at the moment, but thank God for the Russians and Arabs. Damien Hirst's auction at Sotheby's in London last night turned out to be a big success notwithstanding the Wall Street meltdown, with 54 new pieces selling for a total of $127…
Not the Very Best Timing
On a day like today, you might imagine that hedge fund moguls would be a little skittish about plunking down a small fortune on a piece of art. Not so much. Damien Hirst's big auction at Sotheby's is taking place in London this evening anyway. [Portfolio]
Hirst Hype
Sotheby's will hold invitation-only previews of Damien Hirst's new art work in two locations at the end of this month: Bridgehampton and New Delhi. [NYSun]