Helena Rubinstein: Over the Top

This lavishly illustrated volume opens a window into the world of one of the most extravagant and wide-ranging stylemakers of the last century, a pioneer of the cosmetics industry who was also celebrated for the daring and prescience of her art collecting, her decorating, and her personal couture. Four hundred vintage images and a meticulously researched text, including 16 essays by renowned experts in the fields of art and interior design, illuminate and trace the public and private lives of Helena Rubinstein. Rubinstein's bold and influential flair for decor - sleekly modern at times, and at other times a wildly eclectic sampling from different eras - was showcased globally in her beauty salons and in her glamorous residences in New York, Paris, and the South of France. An astute patron, she invested in artworks by the luminaries of Parisian bohemia just as they began their ascent. Her vast collection included tapestries by Picasso and Rouault, paintings by Dégas, Dufy, Matisse, Miró, Modigliani, and Monet, as well as murals by Dalí. Her striking instinct for fashion (she wore Worth and Poiret at first, and Balenciaga and St. Laurent 60 years later) and her famous overscaled jewellery kept her in the public eye, decade after decade. Rubinstein's vibrant character, reflected in her personal style and in the interiors of her homes and salons, is captured here in works by photographers such as Cecil Beaton, Brassaï, André Kertész, Dora Maar, and Man Ray - many of which have never before been published. When the flamboyant and decisive Helena Rubinstein died in 1965, at the age of 94, her huge collections were dispersed. But in these pages her world comes alive again: Over the Top is a unique record of the passionate life and style of this self-made mogul and the century she helped define.
ASIN: 0972766103
VSKU: DBV.0972766103.G
Condition: Good
Author/Artist:Slesin, Suzanne
Binding: Hardcover
Note: Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.
Condition Notes: Gently used with minimal wear on the corners and cover. A few pages may contain light highlighting or writing, but the text remains fully legible. Dust jacket may be missing, and supplemental materials like CDs or codes may not be included. May be ex-library with library markings. Ships promptly!