There's an immediate frisson of friction between the two characters - a teacher and a mother - in this hour-long, real-time conversation.

From heavy bronze wings to delicately patterned parasols, Danielle Wright is spoiled for choice at Auckland Botanic Garden's fourth Sculpture in the Gardens exhibition.

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.

It started with a routine check by German tax inspectors - and resulted in the discovery of an art hoard so vast and spectacular that no one yet knows how the story truly ends.

It has only been four months but I have fallen hard for Auckland.

Claims by New York's newest resident and elusive artist Banksy that the new World Trade Center is a "disaster" have caused a stir in the Big Apple.

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.

We profile stars of Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson show about to open in NZ. Today: Leeco Kosmidis.

The first in a series profiling stars of the Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson show about to open in Auckland.

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.