Hard week for the Art industry!
Usually not very fruitful for news, this week, the Art World has one scandal after another — each one highlighting urgent issues of our time. And isn’t that, after all, one of the core functions of art — to hold a mirror to society?

"Sometimes we lose our brains to take a picture, and we don't think about the consequences," says Vanessa Carlon, Palazzo Maffei (Verona, Italy) director. Her comment follows the release of footage showing museum visitors climbing onto Nicola Bolla’s “Van Gogh Chair” for selfies. One of them slipped and crushed the artwork. The visitors fled before staff could intervene.

Overtourism puts the Louvre on strike.
On Monday, Louvre employees went on a major strike and closed the museum due to unbearable working conditions caused by overtourism. The last straw? A government proposal to increase attendance, without dealing with the understaffing.
Recently, activists across Europe have been staging protests against overtourism and its impact on local life. On Sunday in Barcelona and Mallorca in Spain, protesters turned water guns on tourists as part of one such demonstration.

Rubens or not?
The former curator of the National Gallery in London, Christopher Brown, told The Guardian, that one of the Gallery's most celebrated paintings — “Samson and Delilah” by Peter Paul Rubens — is most likely a decoy. He revealed that in the 20th century, the back of the painting had been removed and replaced with a plywood panel, destroying crucial indicators of authenticity such as stamps, monograms, and antique wood.
Many art historians had already raised concerns: the anatomy of the figures is unusual, the brushwork is notably crude, and the typical craquelure of old paint is absent. Despite this, the National Gallery insists the painting is genuine. But the official attribution was made by Ludwig Burchard, a figure whose credibility has long been in question: dozens of artworks he “discovered” were later exposed as forgeries...

#ArtIndustry #ArtNews #ArtScandal #Overtourism #Louvre #MuseumProtests #ArtAuthenticity #Rubens #ArtHistory #ContemporaryArt #ArtEvents #ArtCommunity #ArtCritique

The Nightmare of Every Museum Curator
Inspired by the news of the damaged “Van Gogh’s Chair” (see yesterday’s post), we’ve gathered 5 famous moments when visitors crossed the fragile line between admiration and destruction.

Let this be a reminder: admire, study, sketch — but never touch (or try to make a selfie)!

#MuseumFails #ArtCrimes

5 Figma plugins to elevate your creative workflow

Whether you’re developing a portfolio project or preparing an entry for the new season of DAFES Awards (coming soon), these tools can help streamline your work and boost creativity:

Curve Text — bend and stylize your typography;
Redlines — generate technical redlines;
Blobs — craft organic, abstract shapes;
LottieFiles — transform your visuals into Lottie animations;
Supa Palette — generate stunning color palettes.

Have a favorite plugin? Share your must-haves in the comments!

#CreativeTools #DAFESLearning #Figma #FigmaPlugin #DesignTips

Confronted with these introspective, unsettling, and at times repulsive portraits, one might ask: What makes them special?

The answer lies in the uncompromising vision of their author, British portraitist Lucian Freud, one of the most influential figures in XX century art. A grandson of Sigmund Freud, he channelled the psychoanalytic ideas into paint, striving to uncover what lies beneath the surface of physical appearance.

Whether portraying anonymous sitters or iconic figures like Kate Moss, he refused to idealise. The human body, to him, was not an object of beauty, but a living, aging, flawed, and truthful presence.

His close friendship with another art legend, Francis Bacon, further sharpened this vision. Freud admired Bacon’s emotive distortion and raw immediacy; Bacon, in turn, drew inspiration from Freud’s psychological insight. Together, they redefined the possibilities of figurative art in an era increasingly dominated by abstraction.

#FigurativeArt #LucianFreud #ArtHistory

Marketing Lessons from Milan Fashion Week
Here are 4 marketing strategies leading brands are using right now:

Crowd engagement – Dolce&Gabbana’s SS26 show ended with models walking into the street, turning the city into a live runway and creating media buzz.
Immersive experience – Gentle Monster x 10 Corso Como created a futuristic art-meets-tech installation, redefining the shopping experience.
‘Third places marketing’ (informal settings beyond stores) – SEASE turned a Milan courtyard into a tennis club, letting visitors watch matches and engage with their collection emotionally.
Pop-up stores – they are cost-effective and help to strengthen clients' loyalty by providing valuable experiences and gifts. For example, Ferragamo offered visitors styling consults, photo ops, and exclusive discounts.

These strategies go beyond sales — they tell stories, build communities, and create shareable moments (= amplify media buzz).

#DAFESLearning #FashionBranding #MilanFashionWeek #FashionMarketing