(Courtesy Jeffkoons.com)

In the "Lives" section of the New York Times Magazine, there's an article called "I Was Jeff Koons's Studio Serf." Ouch.

The "serf" in question is John Powers, who was a 21-year-old art student when a job with Mr. Koons's studio in 1995. He quotes Koons as saying in an interview, “I’m basically the idea person...I’m not physically involved in the production. I don’t have the necessary abilities, so I go to the top people.” Mr. Powers was assigned to make a new painting called "Cracked Egg."

Long story short, he spent five months meticulously finishing the thing, it fell off a studio wall and was damaged, Mr. Powers was told to try again, he quit, then "Cracked Egg" eventually sold at Christie's in London for $501,933. Have a look here.