If you’re actually in the market for a Damien Hirst spot painting (see Exhibit of the week), it helps to have deep pockets, said Colin Gleadell in the London Telegraph. Though Larry Gagosian’s galleries have been “tight-lipped” about pricing, it’s known that Hirst’s spot paintings have previously sold for $995,000 to $1.8 million each. There’s another way to get in on the frenzy, said Felix Salmon in Reuters​.com. You can earn a signed print, valued at anywhere between $3,500 and $50,000, by taking Hirst’s Willy Wonka–esque “Spot Challenge,” which entails visiting each of the 11 Gagosian galleries and getting a card stamped at each stop. A blogger, Jennifer Bostic, claims the whole trip can be done for just over $13,000. But for fun, I came up with an itinerary for “an imaginary plutocrat who wanted to curry favor with Hirst.” The total cost for a 19-day trip that includes first-class tickets and stays at the finest hotels in Geneva, Rome, Paris, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong: $108,572.
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