One of the only surviving photographs we have of Lillie Bliss—fashionable in a fur-collared coat and a satin hat with a flourish of feathers—is by all accounts misleading. This elegant ensemble was likely one of only two owned by Miss Bliss, who despite her great wealth was a modest, intensely private spinster. Lively, wide-open eyes and a Mona Lisa smile hint at what friends described as her “radiant spirit.” A co-founder of the Museum of Modern Art, Miss Bliss was also a stealth rebel. It was she who foresaw the need for a new kind of museum in New York City, she who conspired with a small circle of like-minded devotees and put her collection on the line to make it happen. This exhibition showcases the unassuming pioneer. “Bliss saved her beautiful things from becoming Victorian daughters themselves, fossilized and relegated to the upper rooms,” writes Kate Walbert in the exhibition’s companion book. “She was determined to support artists in a future no one yet could envisage.” —Patricia Zohn