“This is the best moment of my life,” Yayoi Kusama told Whitney Museum Director Adam Weinberg. On the brink of a retrospective at the museum and the unveiling of a much-hyped collaboration with Louis Vuitton, the eighty-two-year-old artist is most definitely on the rise.

The Gagosian empire is growing as Larry launches his twelfth gallery in a warehouse just north of Paris (his second space in the city).

One year ago, a curious intervention popped up overnight on the Williamsburg Bridge: egg-shaped swatches of green, yellow, blue, maroon, purple, red, and blood-orange lined the beams above the bike lane, a subtle yet peppy addition to commutes and weekend rides. Such is the work of Brooklyn-based artist Peter Brock, who founded the ongoing project known as Baji Lives! with the M.O. of brightening public spaces (and eliciting the occasional smile).

Damien Hirst may have begun 2012 by becoming the art-world’s favorite spot painter with his globe-spanning series of exhibitions at Gagosian, but the British superstar must now contend for the title on his home turf. In February, the Tate Modern opened its retrospective exhibition of 150 works by renowned Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, which now stands alongside the museum’s recently unveiled Hirst survey.

Let’s get this straight and move on: eleven facts about Damien Hirst’s spot paintings. On view at all eleven Gagosian galleries worldwide.