Saturday, 17 January 2026

SAM YELLIN

PHILADELPHIA'S WORLD RENOWN ...

Front door, northeast side of Rittenhouse Square

...ARTISAN IRON WORKER

The PJ depends on reader support. Please help us by contributing financially to Philabooks@yahoo.com via PayPal, or by contributing editorial content via WritersClearinghouse.yahoo.com.| Established 1976 Richard Carreño, Editor © MMXXVI WritersClearinghouse All Rights Reserved.

Thursday, 15 January 2026

BATHING BEAUTY AT THE BARNES

Sculpture, right, in main entrance

THE GHOST OF DR. BARNES

Old Barnes Foundation in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania

I yesterday visited the old Barnes Foundation (since moved to Center City, Philadelphia), now converted the Frances M. Maguire Art Museum at St. Joseph's University. I was single visitor.

Eerie. The conversion prompted many memories. Old bones. Old ghosts.

—R.D.C.

Tuesday, 13 January 2026

R.I.P.: Maria Elena Carreño de Granados (June 11, 1983)

From left, Nena, Papa, and grandson

It is right that we pause, reflect as we gather here today, from the youngest to the oldest, spanning three generations, to honor our debt to the one who preceded us. We come as sons, daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to remember the blessings that were bestowed upon us by a woman who was our Nena. Though she touched our lives in different ways, Nena represented an unswerving constant that guided us all -- generation by generation, in this country or as we traveled elsewhere.

In times of trial -- who among us was not consoled by Nena's assurance that all would turn out for the best? -- and in times of crisis, Nena led by her unquestioning faith in us, her power over us -- and why today we know that we will be adrift unless the lessons she taught are not preserved and passed on to our children and their children.

Nena was a simple woman -- with simple ways. Nena spoke of a simpler time, life presented few complexities. "There's good in everything," she would say. More often than not, she was right. She believed in heroes -- she voted for Eisenhower over Stevenson.

Nena believed in honorable things -- excellence, virtue, duty, love -- when many around us no longer held these things dear. We were imperfect in meeting her challenge. But the truth of her lessons established our understanding of integrity and purpose. We set out to meet the test.

It is unfashionable to hold these truths, to hold faith to values that seem to have lost currency in our turbulent age. Uplifted by her devotion to our Lord, Jesus Christ, Nena never suffered doubt. Her conviction flowed to us.

And, thus, Nena was all powerful. Nena urged not by stern admonishments, reprimand, or threat. She led by example. We strived for success because we did not want to disappoint. We strived for success because we knew that anything else would reflect on us all, Nena taught us the weighty lesson that few others learn. That as a family -- albeit far-flung, disparate, and fragile -- we are yet one.

Nena taught us virtue in her belief in goodness and decency.

Nena taught us duty by her devotion to Papa and the family they reared.

Nena taught us love by her attention to even our smallest plans.

Nena nurtured us when we were young and growing. She bathed us in adulation for our most callow accomplishments. She was warm, familiar, trusting == and she played no favorites. We were all equal in her eyes.

By these things, Nena taught us that we were something special, in a special place with special obligations.

I remember evenings of night school as Papa and Nena readied themselves to take their place proudly as Americans in grateful recognition of the fruits and prosperity endowed to us by this wonderful land.

I remember the instant affection and respect that Nena generated from others.

I remember eating porridge -- I hate porridge. I hated it then and I hate it now -- at Nena's urging so that I would cause her no suffering. Nena would truly suffer if she considered us undernourished.

Most of all, I remember a woman who gave us all the strength and will to attempt the very best. Even in failure, we succeeded -- as long as we were true to the ideals she set before us.

Now, as we renew our commitment to these ideals, we continue to render our best because of Nena's unfailing faith that excellence would be rendered.

That is Nena's legacy. This today becomes our mission as we transfer Nena's standard to our children.

Sunday, 30 November 2025

R.I.P. : DON MERLOT

Ron Alonzo

Ron Alonzo

De Gustibus non est disputandum

To us at The PJ, he was "Don Merlot," our resident epicure. For several years, Don sliced and diced — and uncorked — the best of dining for the blog. He reminisced. He mused. He longed for other times. And, from his base in New Orleans, he also unraveled the international intrigue of cuisine, bringing personal experience and erudition to his critique. (He was a member of Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin). Readers admired Don's ability to link a palate, developed over more than fifty years in Europe and in North and South America, to modern tastes.

Don/Ron was also friend.

We will sorely miss him!

By Rod Alonzo

We lost my father, Ronald Thomas Alonzo Ratcliff, earlier this week after a very brief illness. All who knew him are reflecting on the joy he brought to their lives. He grew up in Mexico City whose rich mosaic of culture infused his sense of music, food, and history and whetted his appetite for further adventures.

Both of his parents (Alice Ratcliff and Rosendo Alonzo) grew up in Topeka, Kansas and, as a result, he grew up with a cosmopolitan sense of the city along with a breadbasket vibe of the Midwest. Having an Anglo mother and a Mexican father created a lifelong dialogue about identity.

Our houses were always decorated with Aztec calendars and sarapes (even though he was half Scottish). When he was fourteen, his parents sent him to Staunton Military School in Virginia. His history teachers captured his imagination and inspired him to learn more about the wider world.

Monday, 24 November 2025

OLIVIA NUZZI: WIND IN YOUR HAIR

Sunday, 23 November 2025

Round-About with the Arts

VIDEO: Jumping Jehovah! It's Jean

JEAN SEBERG

depends on reader support. Please help us by contributing financially to Philabooks@yahoo.com via , or by contributing editorial content via WritersClearinghouse.yahoo.com.| Established 1976 , Editor © All Rights Reserved.

Sunday, 19 October 2025

VIDEO: The Cat

VIDEO: The Flower

Wednesday, 15 October 2025

VIDEO: The Editor

Scribble, scribble....

VIDEO: TWINS

Laughing Out Loud....

Friday, 10 October 2025

Authors: Joseph Alsop

Thursday, 9 October 2025

JOHN G. JOHNSON, ESQ., R.I.P.

Walnut Street. Across from Washington Square Park.

Prodigious art collector, creating the John G. Johnson Collection at the Philadelphia Art Museum.

Wednesday, 8 October 2025

GALLERY: USPS

LETTER BOX FROM 1948

SLOT STILL OPENS...

... DOUBT THAT YOU'D WANT TO DEPOSIT A LETTER

GALLERY: LIT'RY MURALS

Tuesday, 7 October 2025

STYLE: AIR CANADA FASHION

STEWS

From "Coffee, Tea, or Me" to "Me 2"

(Open Link Below)

: https://www.aircanada.com/media/in-our-stylish-eras-a-history-in-air-canada-fashion/

Saturday, 4 October 2025

Gallery

THE ARTS

BROADSTREETREVIEW.COM INDEX

Articles by Richard Carreño
Diego Rivera's ghost in Detroit October 15 2013 The city of Detroit may be broke, but the Detroit Institute of Arts owns $2 billion worth of art works. Its most valued pieces, by the Communist Diego Rivera, portray heroic workers triumphing over stoic managers. In the best capitalist tradition, Rivera’s frescoes are now being held hostage by a pair of union-busting Republican politicians.

Dissecting West’s ‘Death of General Wolfe’ August 06 2013 Benjamin West’s Death of General Wolfe was once a hallowed symbol of British imperialism. Now it’s been hijacked by Canadians, whose supply of national icons is otherwise limited. National Gallery of Canada. 380 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. www.gallery.ca/en.

Pittsburgh’s culture quest July 24 2012 The Mellons and the steel mills are gone, but Pittsburgh today boasts first-class museums, music, theaters and universities. The trouble is, they’re all in the wrong part of town.

Discovered: La Salle’s unsung art museum November 14 2011 An obscure museum in a North Philadelphia basement houses world-class treasures by masters like Tintoretto, Edouard Vuillard, Rembrandt Peale, Georges Rouault and Joseph Epstein. Most remarkable of all, admission is free. La Salle University Art Museum. Olney Hall, 1900 W. Olney Ave., lower level. (215) 951-1000 or www.lasalle.edu/museum.

Matisse and Barnes: A tale of two museums October 04 2011 Henri Matisse was one of the three great revolutionary artists (with Picaso and Duchamp) of the early 20th Century; Albert Barnes was a brilliant collector of revolutionary art. They made a great team until Barnes’s insufferable personality drove Matisse away, with consequences that still reverberate today.

‘Picasso and the Paris Avant-Garde’ at the Art Museum February 23 2010 Curator Michael Taylor has unveiled, for the first time in recent memory, the astonishing range, depth, and quality of the Art Museum’s Picasso holdings. But his show falls a few bricks short of an Anne d'Harnoncourt blockbuster. “Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris.” Through May 2, 2010 at Philadelphia Museum of Art, Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 26th St. (215) 763-8100 or http://www.philamuseum.org/.

Antiquity, looters and the Penn Museum November 10 2009 Who are the best stewards of ancient artifacts— enlightened Western curators whose museums stole the loot long ago, or dictators of Third World lands where the treasures were originally found? James Cuno of the Chicago Art Institute (who believes the former) confronts the Penn Museum (which favors the latter). "Iraq’s Ancient Past: Rediscovering Ur’s Royal Cemetery." Through Spring 2010 at University of Pennsylvania Museum, 3260 South St. (215) 898-4000 or www.penn.museum/sites/iraq.

‘American Stories' at the Met in New York October 18 2009 “American Stories,” currently at the Met in New York, reveals an indebtedness to Philadelphia's artistic patrimony. Almost the whole show could have been assembled from Philadelphia holdings or works by Philadelphia artists. So why is the Art Museum so modest about its contributions? “American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765-1915.” Through January 24, 2009 at Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue and 82nd St., New York. 212-535-7710 or http://www.metmuseum.org/. Art

Museum’s admission hike June 29 2009 The Art Museum recently raised its admission fees, a fund-raising model that is strictly 20th-Century. Then it hired as its new director Timothy Rub, a successful advocate of the 21st-Century model: free admission. Does the Art Museum’s left hand know what its right hand is doing?

Venice: Nice place to visit, but…. March 31 2009 There’s no place like Venice to jump-start your romantic gene. But before you move there, remember: The plumbing stinks. And try schlepping groceries, or hauling a suitcase, or finding a doctor or a decent restaurant or a neighbor who’s under 50.

Newspapers and the Internet March 03 2009 In the Internet age, what will happen to fact-based journalism as daily newspapers fold? Contrary to what you hear from print journalists, the quality of coverage could improve. Which would you prefer: The Inquirer, or a Philadelphia edition of the New York Times?

Vidocq: Philadelphia's Sherlock Holmes December 20 2008 Sherlock Holmes, Charlie Chan and Sam Spade are all legendary but fictitious private eyes. But Edgar Allan Poe and Victor Hugo were inspired by a real Philadelphia gumshoe of literary dimensions, as I discovered behind the door of the Vidocq Society in Center City. The Black Tower. By Louis Bayard. William Morrow, 352 pages; $24.95. http://www.louisbayard.com/

Sarah Palin and the ‘C’ word September 13 2008 Thanks to Sarah Palin, the 800-pound gorilla is out of the cage. The 'C' word— class— is the one word in the American lexicon that's even better hidden in polite public discourse than race. And it has little to do with money.

Alfred J. Munnings at Brandywine Museum July 29 2008 A remarkable new show at the Brandywine River museum is a tribute to the great sporting artist Alfred J. Munnings and also to the private collectors of Chester County who’ve accumulated his works without fanfare.“Alfred J. Munnings From Regional Collections.” Through Sept. 1, 2008 at Brandywine River Museum, off U.S. 1, Chadds Ford, Pa. (610) 388-2700 or http://www.brandywinemuseum.org./

The horror of globalization February 16 2008 What is a German discount food chain doing in Philadelphia, pampering its customers and employees alike and otherwise violating cherished local customs? Don’t these foreigners know what we Americans did to the Hessians the last time we got really angry?

George Stubbs paintings at Penn April 17 2007 The English painter George Stubbs is largely forgotten outside racing stables, geezer men’s clubs and faux clubby steakhouses. But he transformed the way artists depicted horses and sporting scenes. Equus Unbound: Fairman Rogers and the Age of the Horse. Through June 15, 2007, at Kamen Gallery, U. of Pennsylvania’s Van-Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, 3420 Walnut St., first floor. Free and open to the public; photo ID required. (800) 390-1829.

Christie’s and ‘The Gross Clinic’ January 03 2007 As a leading art auction house, Christie’s well understands the role of a dummy bidder in jacking up the price of a work. In Jefferson University's recent sale of The Gross Clinic, Christie’s consultants apparently found an unwitting dummy in the Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton. Has Philadelphia’s art community learned anything from this $68 million lesson?

What price admission to the Barnes? August 12 2006 Hefty admisssion increases are the new order of the day at New York's Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum. Derek Gillman, new chief of the Barnes Foundation, may be tempted to follow suit. Here's one hard-nosed reason why he shouldn't.

THE PHILADELPHIA JUNTO.

Celebrating ....