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Cubist painter was taught by Henri Matisse and friends with Pablo Picasso and Henri Rousseau.

And he is now the focus of a new exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Art, which is featuring drawings, prints and paintings from the 20th century artist.

The Wall Street Journal highlights the exhibit, along with two others in Seattle and Miami.  

" 'Max Weber: Bringing Paris to New York,' chronicles in 40 works from 1908 through 1928 how he moved from a classical to a cubist style," the Journal writes. 

The exhibit started March 1 and runs through June 23. It features several Weber paintings from 1909 to 1915 that are part of the  BMA's collection along with many pieces on loan from the Estate of Max Weber. 

If you're male and between the ages of 18 and 34, you could do worse than living in Baltimore. 

So says Forbes, which features an analysis from Rent.com of the top cities for single men. Baltimore made this list, along with Washington, D.C., Boston, Philadelphia and New York City. Rent.com says these are cities where women outnumber men by nearly 10 percent.

This is what Rent.com had to say about Baltimore:

"This delightful town wakes up locals with enchanting seascapes that capture both hearts and minds."

The Domino Sugar sign floating in the water is surely a nice view, but enchanting SEAscapes?

"Perhaps the call of the Atlantic is the romantic siren that draws so many young, single women to the town and the men in droves behind them."

The call of the Atlantic? In droves?

Hey we love Baltimore as much as the next person but someone needs to tell Rent.com that the body of water at the Inner Harbor ain't the Atlantic.

Meanwhile, Rent.com says all the single ladies need to move out to the West Coast. It cites Los Angeles, Seattle, Phoenix, San Jose and Seattle as the top cities for single women. 

Baltimore's Centerstage is one of four performing arts organizations that are producing several theatrical works commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, writes the New York Times. 

The National Civil War Project partners the theater troupes with the arts department of an academic institution. In the case of Centerstage, the Mount Vernon theater is teaming up with the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, College Park.  The duo has commissioned “At War With Ourselves,” by the Kronos Quartet that promises to feature a "legendary composer."

Theaters and universities in Atlanta, Boston and Washington, D.C., are also taking part. 

High property taxes and crime? Check. A population of at least 259,000? Check.

Bad weather? Hmm..maybe the recent mild winters is why Forbes' editors overlooked Baltimore in its list of America's Most Miserable Cities.

Detroit, Flint, Mich., and Rockford, Ill., were the top three. Also on the list was Chicago, home of the nation's best pizza. That's according to Travel & Leisure, which also put Baltimore on the list. Can a city with great pizza really be that miserable? Well, in any case we're relieved Baltimore isn't on the list. Heaven knows the city doesn't need any more bad PR.

Good pizza places have sprouted up all over Baltimore and the readers of Travel & Leisure seem to have noticed. 

The magazine ranked Baltimore No. 19 on its list of 20 best American cities for pizza. Chicago, Providence, R.I., and New York got the top three spots. 

Travel & Leisure cites Chazz Baltimore in Harbor East and Joe Squared as two standout pizza joints that rely on coal-fired ovens. Joe Squared has two locations, at Power Plant Live and the Station North Arts & Entertainment District. The magazine came up with its ranking based on readers' votes in its America's Favorite Cities Survey. You can read the entire list here. 

We're just glad that someone gets us a little bit better than the the writer of this Washington Post piece.  Check out the comments if you haven't already. 

We know that Baltimore is quirky and offbeat. Apparently travel guru Peter Greenberg has gotten this memo because he's named Baltimore the No. 1 Wacky & Weird Road-Trip Spot. 

"From the creepy brilliance of Edgar Allan Poe to the dark, irreverent humor of John Waters, a sci-fi nut, horror junkie, or simply a fan of good, old American kitsch, Baltimore is the number one quintessential capital of weird, cool and quirky sites in our country," Peter Greenberg writes on his travel website. 

The CBS News Travel Editor recommends visits to Port Discovery, the American Visionary Art Museum, the National Pinball Museum, National Museum of Dentistry and Geppi's Entertainment Museum. 

Santa Claus, Indiana and Albuquerque, New Mexico got the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively. 

You've heard of Restaurant Week and probably savored a few three-course meals for $30.

Now city promoters in Baltimore and other locales are devising hotel promotions and perks to lure travelers, writes USA Today.

"Baltimore's inaugural Hotel Week..comes on the heels of New York's second annual lodging promotion, which ended in January," writes USA Today. "Another Hotel Week is being planned for the Caribbean in August, traditionally a slow time in the islands."

Next year, Baltimore may combine its second Hotel Week and Restaurant Week, Visit Baltimore CEO Tom Noonan tells USA Today.

"During Baltimore's inaugural hotel week (Feb. 8-18), travelers could find package deals from 14 hotels including the Holiday Inn, Sheraton, Hilton, Hyatt Regency and Kimpton's Hotel Monaco," USA Today writes.

You can read the entire story here.  

Just in time for Valentine's Day, OpenTable has assembled a list of the top 25 most romantic cities. 

And No. 17 on the list is Baltimore. Aldo's Italian Restaurant in Little Italy, Harbor East's Charleston and Mount Vernon's Sotto Sopra were among the restaurants diners deemed romantic. Charleston got another accolade recently as Zagat named it one of the 25 best restaurants in the nation for service. 

The OpenTable Most Romantic Cities Index was determined by the percentage of restaurants OpenTable diners rated as romantic, the percentage of tables seated for two, and the percentage of couples who dined out for Valentine's Day last year. That's according to an OpenTable news release. 

San Antonio, Austin, Texas and Providence, R.I., rounded out the top three. 

Which restaurants are dishing out the best service these days?

Baltimore's own Charleston is among the nation's best, according to Zagat. Located in Harbor East, the restaurant received 28 points out of 30 for service from Zagat reviewers. 

"Cindy Wolf remains 'at the top of her game', applying 'world-class technique' to 'Low Country' cuisine to create 'phenomenal' New American masterpieces at her Harbor East 'destination,'" writes Zagat, quoting Charleston fans in its guidebook. 

Zagat's list includes Next in Chicago, New York's Per Se and the Inn at Little Washington in Virgina.

Maryland lawmakers are debating weighty issues that affect everything from economic development to health care.

But there's one issue they're really sinking their teeth into: making the soft-shell crab sandwich the official state sandwich. 

"Debate began to heat up on Thursday when Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr. (D-Calvert) testified in favor of the bill he is co-sponsoring at a committee hearing," writes the Huffington Post. 

Maryland Life magazine Editor and Publisher Dan Patrell weighed in on the debate, arguing that official designation could lead to more awareness of the Chesapeake Bay's bounty and higher sales.

"It wasn’t long ago that this same body considered naming the Smith Island Cake as the state dessert, which some may have also thought frivolous," Patrell said in written testimony. "But I ask you to consider the economic impact of that legislation: you raised general awareness not only within the state but well beyond its borders."

You can read the rest of the story here. 

Netflix is releasing its Baltimore-filmed political thriller "House of Cards" on Friday, Feb 8.

The Maryland Film Office says the $100 million production starring Kevin Spacey is the largest filmed in the Free State, writes the Washington Post.

The 13-part series will be available all at once via Netflix streaming. 

Much of the movie is filmed in Baltimore, which stands in for D.C.

The folks who put on the Academy Awards are taking their iconic gold Oscar statuette on a roadtrip. And Baltimore is one of the stops.

The first ever Oscar Roadtrip started in New York Feb. 4 and is hitting Baltimore Feb. 8. Oscar promoters are letting fans in 10 cities know what it's like to hold a gold statue in their hands.  Philadelphia, Chicago Washington, D.C., and Phoenix are some of the other places they will hit. The last stop is, of course, the live broadcast of the Academy Awards Feb 24 in Los Angeles.

It's unclear where exactly the Oscar will stop in Baltimore, as a lot of the decisions will be made at the last minute, the website says. You can follow @OscarRoadTrip on Twitter to follow their adventures or Tweet suggestions on places to visit around town. 

"Baltimore love is snow-balls covered with melted marshmallow."

So declares Baltimore native Caroline Weller in the Huffington Post, where she is a news editor. 

Her love letter to Baltimore talks about the city's myriad charms that make it special: Maryland Blue Crabs, Berger cookies and Natty Bohs, among them.

And of course, the Baltimore Ravens — even when they aren't the Super Bowl champions.

You can read the entire letter here. 

Mario Lopez tried to coax actors to try their hand at the Ray Lewis' squirrel dance at the Screen Actors Guild awards Jan. 27 — all with varying degrees of success. 

"Big Bang Theory" actors Jim Parsons and Kunal Nayyar, along with Chris Tucker all attempted to imitate the Baltimore Ravens linebacker's famous moves before the world sees the real deal for the last time in Sunday's Super Bowl game against the San Francisco 49ers. USA Today featured a video with the stars in action.

Lewis is retiring at the end of the season, after 17 years on the field. 

Meanwhile, Perry Hall resident and Ray Lewis fan Louie Silverio, attempted his own version of No. 52's dance and posted the video on YouTube. His girfriend Ashleigh Coffelt sent BmoreMedia the link. 

Two Baltimore travel properties have received national recognition.

Travelers have named the Inn at the Black Olive as one of top-rated small hotels in the country, according to TripAdvisor, which unveiled its Travelers' Choice 2013 awards.

The Fells Point property scored an impressive No. 3 ranking on the list of small hotels, behind Inn of the Five Graces in Santa Fe., N.M., and Wentworth Mansion in Charleston, S.C. Billing itself as a "premiere boutique organic hotel," it is owned by the Spiliadis family, who also operate the Black Olive and Olive Room restaurants. 

The award also recognized Rachael Dowry's Bed and Breakfast in its list of top bed and breakfasts and inns. The Ridgely's Delight property came in at No. 6. Point Clear Cottages in Fairhope, Ala., the Welsh Hills Inn in Granville, Ohio and Stony Point Bed & Breakfast in Tyrone, Pa. were the top three.