1A New Zealand family has sold a Gainsborough painting at Christie's Auction House in London for around $NZ300,000. The family is believed to be descendants of the sitters for the portrait Mr & Mrs William Carter, from Essex.

2"Pop" music has become an accepted genre of the arts, with rock the most common parts of the culture. The New Zealand band Split Endz has recently won the Countdown Awards in Sydney for Best Album and Most Popular Group and Tim Finn received the Best Song Writer Award. This is what lies behind this success.

3The story on painter Rita Angus a few weeks ago generated a lot of interest and other names for a younger generation were suggested. Robin White is one. She lives in Kiribati in a Baha'i community at present but has just returned to New Zealand to complete a book.

4To ensure their survival artists are looking for commercial sponsorship, and art competitions offer monetary prizes. A new and unlikely sponsor in car company Team McMillan Ford who are sponsoring a competition. Artists included are: Ian Scott, Gretchen Albrecht, Chris Pearson, Sylvia Siddell, Alex Milne, George Beloghy and Daz. Mary MacIntyre's painting "Crown of Flags" won but the decision was controversial especially over the conditions of the contest.