Damien Hirst joins the dots to make a fake worth a fortune

THERE’S al ways been doubt over how much Damien Hirst personally contributes to the works that carry his famous name. Now, there may be a whole lot more.

For the world’s richest artist has revealed that he bought a poor copy of one his famous ‘ spot’ paintings for a few pounds online and then signed it, instantly transforming it into a highly valuable work.

Hirst has produced more than 1,000 hand- painted dot pictures since 1986 which sell for as much as £25,000.

‘I bought a fake spot painting off eBay for £10 and it was made badly with a spray can and c**p stencil,’ he confirms. ‘I had it in my office for a while and eventually I liked it so much that I signed it, and then made this series of spot paintings that I called “Antibiotics”.

‘From a distance they look like a normal dot painting, but close up they look dodgy. I love them.’

Hirst, 55, who has an estimated fortune of almost £300 million, is well known for employing a factory of assistants to help with the creation of his large- scale installation sand massproduced works.

No fewer than 250 people reportedly worked for him in preparation f or his 2012 retrospective at the Tate Gallery in London.

He turned a derelict 13,350square-metre site in Stroud, Gloucestershire, into an arts production studio and gallery which he uses mainly for preserving dead animals and producing sculptures en masse.

Even though he has shed several staff to focus on solo works, Hirst has retained a production team f or his large-scale installations such as his formaldehyde animal tanks.

However, his decision to buy a fake picture on eBay and sign it should not unnerve those who like to invest in his artworks.

A source tells me: ‘The fake spot painting is not for sale.’