Helena Rubinstein: Beauty is Power

'A catalogue of an eclectic modernist art collection alongside a cool, wry account of an extraordinary life, this book is a revelation' Jewish Chronicle

A fascinating book exploring the ideas, innovations, and influence of the legendary cosmetics entrepreneur Helena Rubinstein (1872–1965)

Rubenstein was a self-made celebrity. With an inspired marketing strategy, she allied her products with the art world and created the image that made her millions and transformed the world of cosmetics into an international concern. Graham Sutherland, who painted her portrait in 1957, described her as an 'empress -magnificent, minute and monosyllabic, with the force of an Egyptian ruler.'

Helena Rubinstein: Beauty Is Power traces Rubinstein's remarkable history and her journey from a Polish emigrant to an American business magnate. Klein's witty text and expert footnotes make this a colourful and compelling account. 

Details

• Author: Mason Klein, Curator, Jewish Museum, New York.
• Hardcover: 192 pages | 196 colour illustrations
• Date published:  December 2014
• Language: English
• Delivery: Allow 2-3 weeks
• ISBN: 978-0300195569
• Product Dimensions: 29.8 x 22.2 x 2.5 cm

Reviews

'It shows us how Rubinstein adapted Cubism, Surrealism and other avant-garde art and design movements for her personal brand, highlighting new and different standards of beauty and exhorting women to control their own images through makeup and grooming. “There are no ugly women, only lazy ones,” she famously declared' - The New York Times

'absorbing' - Jewish Review of Books 

'A catalogue of an eclectic modernist art collection alongside a cool, wry account of an extraordinary life, this book is a revelation' Jewish Chronicle

'a stunning profile of a collector and cosmetics mogul' The Wall Street Journal

'Helena Rubinstein: Beauty is Power is a very powerful, beautiful exhibit about one of the first female entrepreneurs. This surging power emanates from Madame, as she was universally known, a 4' 10" larger-than-life individual, who built a four-continent cosmetics empire and revolutionized the concept of beauty. She amassed a widely, some would say wildly diverse art collection that's as stunning now as it was startling back then' - Examiner