I'm sure everyone in the art world has heard about the fire Monday at Momart (London) that destroyed an unspecified amount of artwork in London this week. Whatever arguments there are to be had about the "value" of these works (mainly by the YBAs) and Charles Saatchi's taste (who lost hundreds of works) no one can discount how much of a terrible situation this is. I mean, artists and collectors placed their artwork in there to be safe so to hear that it burned and their artwork has been destroyed must have been awful. And people are pissed. The Telegraph reports that "Claims are expected to exceed £50 million." Ouch, that burns.

From Artnet:

"I feel pretty sick," Saatchi was reported as saying. "This is probably the worst thing one could imagine." Reaction to the disaster was uniformly somber, with the exception of Dinos Chapman, who told the London Telegraph that "We will just make it again. It's only art."

Among the items destroyed were Jake and Dinos Chapments 28 square foot installation "Hell", 16 of Damien Hirst's spin and buttefly pieces, Tracey Emin's tent  "Everyone I Ever Slept With 1963-1995" as well as "The Last Thing I Said is Don't Leave Me Here", as well as works by Chris Ofili, Gavin Turk, Sarah Lucas, abstract painter Patrick Heron and Gary Hume.

As of today, they don't know the official cause of the fire.