December 23, 2021 • View in browser

Good Morning. ⛅️ Today, the best poetry books of the year, examining the shortcomings of the Met Museum’s African Origins exhibition, and Denzel Washington stars in a new cinematic take on Macbeth.

— Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief 

This Be the Verse: Our Favorite Poetry Books 2021 (Mostly)

John Yau and Albert Mobilio select a few choice titles from the past year.

THE LATEST

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Paintings Rather than Pictures

This desire to go beyond the ordinary without forgetting its existence seems to be one motivation that Jane Freilicher and Thomas Nozkowski shared. | John Yau

How the Met Museum Justifies Looting

The African Origins exhibition ignores the fact that approximately 160 objects from Benin are held by the museum under ongoing demands for their repatriation. | Erin L. Thompson

Denzel Washington Stars in a New Black-and-White Macbeth

Working for the first time without his brother Ethan, Coen’s film adaptation, featuring Denzel Washington as Macbeth, embraces the text with unusual faithfulness. | Forrest Cardamenis

IN MEMORIAM

Jenni Crain (1991–2021)
Artist and curator whose death from COVID-19 at age 30 shocked the art world | Hyperallergic

Richard Rogers (1933-2021)
Architect behind Centre Pompidou in Paris and Lloyd's building in London | Dezeen

Oriol Bohigas (1925–2021)
Famed Spanish architect and urban planner | New York Times

Frederick C. Baldwin (1929-2021)
Photographer and collector known for co-founding Houston’s FotoFest | The Art Newspaper

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