Baltimore Museum

Baltimore helped the avant-garde painter Max Weber forge a national reputation in 1915. Now, nearly 100 years later, this could be the city where the late artist begins his long-overdue comeback. It's not that critics and curators are unfamiliar with the Russian-born, Brooklyn-raised painter's work. As a new exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Art makes clear, Weber has long been considered one of the most significant American artists of the 20th century. But, at the peak of his career, Weber was a bona fide celebrity, with spreads in "Time," "Life," "Look" and 'The Saturday Evening Post.

It should be relatively easy for a judge to make a decision in the matter of the small landscape painted on a napkin by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir ("U.S. court enters fray over painting," March 16). Museum collections managers and registrars adhere to the English Common Law concept, recognized in modern American jurisprudence, that deed does not follow theft, even after several changes of hands; the original owner remains the owner. Since the Baltimore Museum of Art was the original, legal owner of the painting (it having been left to the museum in an unchallenged will)

A federal court in Virginia was asked Friday to determine the proper ownership of a miniature landscape painted by Pierre-Auguste Renoir and purchased for $7 in a box of odds and ends in a rural flea market. The complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria is essentially the first step in determining where the 1879 "Paysage Bords de Seine" will end up. Such a document is frequently filed by a third party — in this case, the U.S. government — that is holding property whose ownership is in dispute.

Carole Lynn Maier, a stained-glass artist and former House of Ruth board president, died of an autoimmune lung ailment Feb. 24 at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The Kingsville resident was 60. Born Carole Lynn Smith in Baltimore and raised in Kingsville, she was a 1970 graduate of Perry Hall High School. At age 18, while living her grandparents, she changed her name to theirs, Maier. As a young woman, she moved to the Tuscany-Canterbury neighborhood. "She loved the city," said her husband, Mark Wiesand, who sells jet fuel for corporate aviation.

Schools and government offices aren't the only things closing down in anticipation of today's snowstorm. Here is a partial list, continually being updated, of cultural and commercial institutions shutting down for the day. The American Visionary Art Museum is closed. Tonight's Hesperus Cine-Concert at An Die Musik Live has been postponed. The Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum and Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards are closed. The Baltimore Museum of Art is closed.

A businessman and competitive sailor, Frank Savage has benefited from following seas and been battered on rocky shoals. Born in North Carolina and raised by a single mother in segregated Washington, Savage rose to prominence in the world of international banking and investment at Citibank and Alliance Capital Management, a subsidiary of AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co. that managed more than $450 billion in assets. He served on prestigious boards, was a trustee at both Howard University and the Johns Hopkins University, and jetted around the world, making deals and money.

There was a flutter on Facebook yesterday over an article about Baltimore. A newspaper of some repute had engaged a writer with low esteem for the city to venture here and write about his discoveries. He followed a familiar pattern: Writer from the Big City comes to a quaint little burg and discovers that some of the locals have adopted bipedalism and tamed fire to cook their victuals. Then, with an air of condescension as pungent as the aroma that wafts off the Inner Harbor in July, he departs for civilization.

This schedule will be in effect Monday: Government offices Closed in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard and Frederick counties, and in Baltimore City and Annapolis. Courts Closed in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, Howard and Frederick counties, and in Baltimore City and Annapolis. Libraries Closed Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard counties and Baltimore City. Open in Anne Arundel and Frederick counties.

Wedding date: Jan. 13, 2013 Wayne's story: Wayne Gooch, 58, grew up in Cleveland. He is retired from Verizon and regularly volunteers at food banks in Rehoboth Beach, Del. His father, James, and his mother, Julia, are both deceased. Russell's story: Russell Keys, 50, grew up in Baltimore. He is a communications representative for Verizon. His father, William, is deceased, and his mother, Carrie, is retired. Their story: Wayne and Russell met at a club in Washington on Jan. 13, 1989.

Children used paper plates, yarn, feathers and beads to make dream catchers decorated with words and phrases like "hope" and "I have a dream" to celebrate the memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday while their parents watched President Barack Obama's inauguration on a big-screen television. To Terry Taylor, the dual celebration at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum was a full-circle moment. "People seemed pretty excited; they cheered when Barack took the oath. They were clapping and stomping their feet," said Taylor, education programs coordinator at the museum.