Pulse: Character: Timothy Rub


Age: 57.

Where you’ll see him: The Philadelphia Museum of Art. The new director and CEO (who came from Cleveland) opens his first big show here, “Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris,” on February 24th.

Today’s challenge for museums: “How to make experiencing great works of art relevant and interesting in an increasingly digital world.”

About the fact that there were 75 applicants (and 22 interviewees) for his job: “It’s good I didn’t know that. I’d probably have been completely cowed.”

What an art museum CEO hangs on his walls: “Right now, everything’s still leaning against the walls. What we have is largely contemporary — prints by Sean Scully, photos by Ansel Adams … and a collection of Swedish ceramics that my mother gave to me because I was the only one who showed interest.”

On Philly’s rep for public art: “The murals I’ve known about for years. My wife is old friends with Jane Golden from their Stanford days.”