Beauty is Power: Helena Rubinstein's Art Collection @ The Jewish Museum

Beauty is power, no doubt about it.  Business pioneer, style maverick & promotional genius, Helena Rubinstein (HR) built an empire from cosmetics.  HR empowered women to discover their own, individual beauty utilizing make-up as a tool.  A cosmetic empire was founded by this dynamic woman whose stature was a mere 4'10.  This empire enabled Rubinstein to amass a remarkable collection of art while spanning the globe.  This exhibit hosts a remarkable myriad of works, many by Miro, Picasso, Matisse, Leger as well as African, Oceanic & Totonac sculptures & figureheads.  The plethora of art & objects share a unifying thread.  The works maintain a consistent agreeable aesthetic.   HR explains her unorthodox tastes "I like beautiful things & I'm not afraid to use them in unconventional ways."  An entire wall holds 8 large portraits of HR.  These kalaidescope jeweled paintings create a stunning canvas of fierce magnetism.  This can be construed as hubris but not without merit.  This self-made tycoon was a master of self-promotion motivated to "instill in women that beauty is attainable."  Note the 12 charcoal drawings of HR by Picasso; all unique yet similar in depicting this formidable dynamo.  Her selected works are alluring.  The seductive sculptures by Eli Nadelman were among my favorite pieces.  A surrealist painting shows a woman peering through a keyhole, viewing another woman adorned in glittering candles.  This voyeur may represent a woman seeking access to beauty.  An exquisite Venetian mirror centrally placed in the room with her jewels & fashions suggests everyone's power for enhancing their own beauty.