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Jewish Museum HYPE: Helena Rubinstein
Who is Helena Rubinstein?
If you are of a certain age - say, almost 46 - you know her name from the credits at the end of Sesame Street. The Helena Rubinstein Foundation was as reliable a sponsor as the letter B.
If you are over 55, or are tuned into the cosmetics industry (especially in Europe and Asia), you probably know that she was one of the leading lights in the fashion world, an industry powerhouse who helped change the use of makeup from scandalous to commonplace.
But either way, you probably don't know the whole story, about how a young woman from Jewish Poland left home to escape an arranged marriage, made her way to Australia, and turned a single shop selling a lanolin-based cream into a corporate giant. And you probably don't know about the art she collected, the portraits she commissioned, the life she led as trend-setter and saloniere.
That is, you don't know yet. Starting tomorrow, the Jewish Museum presents Helena Rubinstein: Beauty Is Power. This is the first museum exhibition to explore her life, bringing together much of her collection (auctioned off after her death). While Helena hasn't been a household name in the US in years (the brand still exists overseas, but not here), the show explains that not so long ago, she was, without a doubt, one very important woman.
Don't take my word for it. Here are stories from The New York Times and The New York Post. (When the Times and Post are on the same page about something, it must be good.)
The exhibition runs through March, and I hope you can come and see.
If you are of a certain age - say, almost 46 - you know her name from the credits at the end of Sesame Street. The Helena Rubinstein Foundation was as reliable a sponsor as the letter B.
If you are over 55, or are tuned into the cosmetics industry (especially in Europe and Asia), you probably know that she was one of the leading lights in the fashion world, an industry powerhouse who helped change the use of makeup from scandalous to commonplace.
But either way, you probably don't know the whole story, about how a young woman from Jewish Poland left home to escape an arranged marriage, made her way to Australia, and turned a single shop selling a lanolin-based cream into a corporate giant. And you probably don't know about the art she collected, the portraits she commissioned, the life she led as trend-setter and saloniere.
That is, you don't know yet. Starting tomorrow, the Jewish Museum presents Helena Rubinstein: Beauty Is Power. This is the first museum exhibition to explore her life, bringing together much of her collection (auctioned off after her death). While Helena hasn't been a household name in the US in years (the brand still exists overseas, but not here), the show explains that not so long ago, she was, without a doubt, one very important woman.
Don't take my word for it. Here are stories from The New York Times and The New York Post. (When the Times and Post are on the same page about something, it must be good.)
The exhibition runs through March, and I hope you can come and see.
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Meanwhile, I had no idea about the rest of it. She sounds fascinating.
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