Lou Reed lived up to his irascible reputation at the opening of his latest project, an exhibit of his photos of New York, at the fourth-floor gallery in Hermès' Madison Avenue flagship. Asked how he came to showcase his work in a tony uptown boutique, the legendary former Velvet Underground front man snapped, "I don't know why you people keep asking me that." Later, he added, "Beautiful art should be able to be shown anywhere."

The show—over 50 images of the city's West Side, along with a few black-and-white self-portraits—caused quite a traffic jam on the store's spiral staircase, as pals like David Bowie, Moby, and Peter Beard packed in to congratulate Reed. "I'm a little daunted by the crowd," said Julian Schnabel, not looking daunted. "It's hard to see the work, but he's one of my best friends, so I had to be here." Before he left for the post-cocktail dinner at the Steven Kasher Gallery, where the pieces are available for sale, Schnabel managed to catch a glimpse of Reed's Hudson River sunsets. "It looks like the world is on fire in his photos," he said. This got the artist musing. "Maybe it is on fire," he added. "Now that's a good quote."

—Sarah Cristobal