Koons Grabs Gold

(NEW YORK) Artist Jeff Koons will soon have a gold medal to match the luster of his shiny sculptures. The art world icon will be honored, not for any Olympic endeavor, but for his contribution to the arts by The National Arts Club. The Gramercy Park insitution will hold cocktails and a dinner for Koons on Thursday, January 29th.

One of Koons most recent exhibitions was a retrospective of the artist's work at the Château de Versailles. The exhibition, which closed on January 4, was the target of lawsuit at the behest of of a descendent of Louis XIV. Prince Charles-Emmanuel de Bourbon-Parme called the show "a desecration and an attack on the respect due to the dead" and noted that people should have "access to their heritage without pornographic restraint." A French judge dismissed the case, noting in his statement, "The existence of a right to live without the profanation of one's ancestors and of a right to access knowledge of heritage without pornographic constraints does not constitute a fundamental freedom."