When a mutual friend introduced Lucian Freud to Francis Bacon it seeded a competitive friendship between the two titans of 20th century figurative art, who made each other a favoured subject.

When German tax authorities entered the home of a recluse collector and found a trove of art that could include works stolen by the Nazis, they stepped into a legal quagmire - one that may end up being resolved by politics as much as the law.

A website featuring artworks from among a massive trove discovered in a Munich apartment crashed because of heavy traffic, officials said, as a handful of potential heirs came forward to claim art possibly looted by the Nazis.

Play embraces the digital age, writes Barney McDonald.

Julianne Moore, star of stage and screen, mother of two and successful children's writer, remains the most unaffected of actresses despite her illustrious career.

A controversial image of a strike-breaker will be removed from a waterfront history panel and replaced with a wharfie.

An artwork depicting controversial strikes on Auckland's waterfront 100 years ago has been covered up ahead of its removal this morning.

She was New Zealand's first Poet Laureate and now Michele Leggott has won the PM's award for literature, which she'll receive in Wellington tonight.

Does he like peeling onions? Michael Hurst looks bemused by the question - he is eating a home-made salad of piquant appearance - so he pauses, fork in mid-air, and tilts his head.

He became the first New Zealander to be convicted for art forgery, but Carl Goldie's family don't think he minded too much.

British street art superstar Banksy says police have prevented him from creating a new piece of art in New York as promised on each day of the month.

Take a look at some of the acts that will be performing at the 2014 NZ Festival.