“Most museums celebrate centennials by trotting out their signature masterpieces, staging blockbusters, and campaigning for significant new acquisitions. [Boston’s] Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum can’t do any of those things. The masterpieces are already up, displayed in the permanent installation dictated by the founder. There’s no room for a blockbuster. Mrs. Gardner’s will prohibits the museum from adding to the collections. So the museum celebrates its 100th year with ‘The Making of the Museum: Isabella Stewart Gardner as Collector, Architect & Designer,’ a show that attempts to rebrand her as a pioneer in the museum world, as opposed to a loose cannon in Brahmin society.”