BEAUTY

Photos: Helena Rubinstein: A Self-Made Woman

As a new show of her vast art collection makes clear, she had both an eye for beauty and a nose for business.

by Holly Brubach

Helena Rubinstein

1

Rubinstein, with some of the portraits she commissioned over the years. Courtesy of Helena Rubinstein Foundation archive, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York Special Collections.

2

The spacious foyer in Rubinstein’s New York apartment. Photograph courtesy The Kreeger Museum, Washington, DC.

3

Pablo Picasso’s Untitled (Madame XIX 27.11.55), 1955. © 2013 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

4

Rubinstein with Salvador Dalí, his wife, Gala, and Angel Zúñiga (from left), New York. Courtesy of The Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch Collection, Berlin.

5

Leonor Fini’s Two Women, 1939. Courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art, Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection, 1998, 1999.363.47 © Successió Miró/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris 2013. Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

6

Helena’s niece, Mala Rubinstein, leads a class of saleswomen, New York, circa 1937. Photograph by Malcom Varon.

7

Joan Miró’s Seated Nude Holding a Flower, 1917. Courtesy of Helena Rubinstein Foundation archive, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York Special Collections.

8

One of her many salons. Courtesy of Helena Rubinstein Foundation archive, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York Special Collections.

9

Rubinstein at home, New York, 1956. Courtesy of Getty Images.

10

The Dalí room in Rubinstein’s New York home. Photograph by Bradford Robotham.

11

Rubinstein, 1937. Courtesy of Getty Images.

12

Marie Laurencin’s Portrait of Helena Rubinstein, 1934. Courtesy of Private Collection, Stowe, Vermont © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris.

13

Rubinstein looking at one of her early-American vases, 1940s. Photograph by Christian Moser.

14

Graham Sutherland’s Helena Rubinstein in a Red Brocade Gown, 1957. Courtesy of Daniel Katz Gallery, London © Estate of Graham Sutherland.

15

Rubinstein in 1941. Courtesy of Getty Images.

16

Booklet cover, 1935. Courtesy of Fashion Institute of Technology|SUNY, Gladys Marcus Library Department of Special Collections.

17

A setting for a ladies’ luncheon at Rubinstein’s home in Connecticut. Courtesy of Fashion Institute of Technology|SUNY, Gladys Marcus Library Department of Special Collections.

18

A shot from the fall 1998 makeup collection, Cinderella. Courtesy of Fashion Institute of Technology|SUNY, Gladys Marcus Library Department of Special Collections.

19

A Rubinstein treatment. Courtesy of Fashion Institute of Technology|SUNY, Gladys Marcus Library Department of Special Collections.

20

Rubinstein with Picasso, Cannes, 1956. Courtesy of Fashion Institute of Technology|SUNY, Gladys Marcus Library Department of Special Collections.

21

Rubinstein’s living room, New York. Courtesy of Helena Rubinstein Foundation archive, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York Special Collections.