Hirst is now the most successful living artist in the world

Enfant terrible? Not any more. Damien Hirst has transcended that tag - and the memory of Britart. As the final tally emerged from his recent selling spree in Los Angeles - some 28 paintings garnering over £25m - Hirst was this weekend confirmed as the most successful artist alive.

Until now he was lagging behind the 76-year-old US painter Jasper Johns, who sold a print last year for £41m. But the 41-year-old Briton has taken the lead, thanks to a remarkable recent surge in the prices paid for his work.

The first piece to make big money was a pickled sheep that sold for £1.8m three years ago. A shark, also in formaldehyde, then went to the US hedge fund manager Steve Cohen for £6.5m. And now his earnings have soared, thanks to a collection of canvases covered in preserved butterflies and household gloss that has caused a sensation in LA.

Inspired by stained glass windows and named after poems in Philip Larkin's High Windows, they sold for between £460,000 and £1.3m apiece before the show, Superstition, had even opened at the Gagosian Gallery.

"Damien Hirst is without question the most successful artist of our times," said Cristina Ruiz, editor of The Art Newspaper. "He has become one of only three "brand names" in the art market, the others being Picasso and Warhol - artists whose work sells across the world from China to the Middle East. Hirst's name can be used to sell virtually anything he touches."

Buyers in LA have ranged from major private collectors to stars such as the former Friends actress Courteney Cox. Many of the paintings were bought by individuals unable to go to seem them in person on the basis of colour transparencies shown them by their dealers. They were buying the fruit of less than 12 months' work - and Hirst's versatility means there will be more to come.

His coronation was orchestrated by his patron, Larry "Go Go" Gagosian, in textbook Hollywood fashion. As he chatted to fellow artists, including Richard Prince and Dennis Hopper, Tinseltown provided the glamour. Actresses Kirsten Dunst, Milla Jovovich and Gina Gershon mingled with supermodels Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista, the singer Courtney Love, and socialites Alexandra von Fürstenberg and Pia Getty, wife of the oil heir Christopher Getty.

Leading men included Robert Downey Jnr, Steve Martin, the champion cyclist Lance Armstrong and "the Governator" - Arnold Schwarzenegger, still on walking sticks after a recent skiing accident.

"The place was rammed," Hirst's spokesman said. "It was invite-only, but several hundred were invited and they all turned up. They were queuing round the block."

In the midst of the gallery was a slightly rotund man in open-necked shirt, casual jacket and blue jeans just the right side of scruffy. His only concession to starriness was a trace of designer stubble and pink-tinted sunglasses - these, and the string of glamorous women that gathered round as he chatted in his soft Leeds accent to the Governor of California.

The sight of Hirst glad-handing Beverly Hills's finest sets the seal on the Young British Artists' quiet conquest of Hollywood. From fellow Turner Prize winners Chris Ofili and Rachel Whiteread to conceptual photographer Sam Taylor-Wood, the leading names in what was once Britart are selling like hot cakes in the auction houses of New York and LA.

Hirst's next major undertaking is a "10-year project" to transform Toddington Manor near Cheltenham, a sprawling Grade I Gothic pile, into a museum for his personal art collection and items he retains of his own work.

Meanwhile Hirst is also showing new butterfly paintings in this country. He has created three for the church of All Hallows on the Wall in the City of London, where his New Religion show runs until 4 April.

So whatever happened to Hirst the likely lad, whose drunken antics were once the toast of the Groucho set? According to friends of the artist, who lives in Devon with partner Maia Norman and their three children, he simply grew up.

"The enfant terrible thing is in the past," insisted his spokesman. "He should be celebrated. He's a young lad from Leeds and here he is, a fantastic dollar-earner for the UK."

Who's the next Hirst? Banksy

Now Damien's prices have gone stratospheric, US art collectors are looking for the next bad-boy Brit to buy. And they're going for the graffiti artist and prankster from Bristol known only as Banksy.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were among the Hollywood stars who turned up to see his 'Barely Legal' show in Los Angeles in September. Jolie spent £120,000 on three pieces, including a bullet-ridden bust. Banksy didn't show his face, but there was a live Thai elephant (painted to match the wallpaper). He made about £1.5m from sales, but more importantly the show made Banksy's name in the US.

His highest price so far is £58,000, for a 'Mona Lisa' with spraypainted eyes.

£1.8m: 'Away From The Flock, Divided' (1995), Sold 2006

What Is It? A sliced sheep in formaldehyde from the early days of Hirst's fame. It broke the record for the price of a Hirst work. The sale in New York was a breakthrough for the artist in the States, putting him on a par with David Hockney, a favourite in the US, whose painting 'A Neat Lawn' sold for £1.9m on the same day.

Who Bought It? Manhattan art dealer Dominique Levy

£11.1m 'The Fragile Truth' And Other Items', Sold 2004

What Are They? Fixtures and fittings of restaurant Pharmacy. Hirst paid £5,000 for them when it went bust. Most expensive at £1.1m was this medicine cabinet. The loss of 12 other works in an East End warehouse fire persuaded him to agree to a solo sale Sotheby's, the first living artist to be given this treatment.

Who Bought Them? Private clients, through dealers

£6.5m 'The Physical Imposs-Ibility Of Death In The Mind Of Someone Living' (1991), Sold 2004

What Is It? A 14ft tiger shark in a glass tank, pickled in formaldehyde. With this sale, Hirst became the second most expensive living artist after Jasper Johns. The shark was rotting and the liquid had become murky, so the artist pickled a replacement.

Who Bought It? US hedge fund manager Steve Cohen

£25m 'Aubade' And Paintings From 'Superstition'

What Are They? Butterflies and household gloss on canvas, according to the Gagosian Gallery in Los Angeles. Inspired by stained glass windows, each of the 28 works is named after a poem by Philip Larkin. The sales mean Hirst has now surpassed Johns's earnings.

Who Is Buying Them? Hedge fund billionaires and television stars such as Courteney Cox