The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.
Audio description
3 minutes 11 seconds
This is an oil on canvas portrait of Helena Rubinstein – entrepreneur and founder of her own global cosmetics corporation.
The gold-and-cream framed work, is approx. 2m high and 1m wide, showing a view of Helena from head to below her knees. Helena is seated, her head held high, a mature woman exuding glamour and style wearing a sumptuous, ruby-red gown juxtaposed against a dove grey background.
Helena Rubenstein’s body is turned slightly, her left side more prominently displayed and she gazes out of the portrait to her right, looking rather tense. Her mid-length black hair is pulled tightly back, her sleek up-do highlights her high forehead and clearly visible grey hairs just above her left ear. Her thick hair is tied at her nape, soft curls gather in a black ribbon hugging the back of her neck.
Furrows mark the commencement of an arch to each small, well-kept eyebrow. There are creases in the soft skin around her dark eye on the left side of her face. Here, her complexion is smooth and liberally dusted with pink blusher. She has wide nostrils and a prominent nose casting a thin shadow onto her (barely visible) right cheek.
Helena’s olive skin shows signs of age at the corners of her thin, ruby-red mouth and noticeably defined jowl. A patch of shadow accentuates the soft, vertical folds in the paper-thin skin of her neck.
She has large ears and creases nose to mouth-corners. She holds herself rigid, ill-at-ease, maintaining proud posture and staring beyond us.
Her face is made up and black/brown lines outline neat eyebrows, her eyelids and eye lashes. Her nose and chin tilt upwards. Her thin lips are closed and brightly outlined in red.
On her left ear is a large tear-drop shaped earring encrusted with pearls and diamonds. A sumptuous 5-stringed pearl necklace caresses her neck and the lower strands rest on the material of her dress.
Two large oval shaped rings adorn both stiffly crossed hands resting on her lap. Her left hand holds a 5cm gold, leaf-shaped object.
Helena’s rich, ruby-red brocade gown by designer Balenciago bears a detailed floral pattern in shades of gold, white, light blues and greens. The bodice has a high neckline, three-quarter sleeves and flairs out over the skirt at hip level. Helena’s full skirt drapes loosely around her hips and upper legs, occupying the whole lower quarter of the portrait.
The dress’s floral pattern becomes less and less defined towards the bottom edge of the portrait, disseminating to smudged shades of paler reds, orange and pinks as it continues to flow from the seated woman out beyond the bottom edge of the picture frame.
The artist – Graham Sutherland has signed his work in the bottom right corner of the canvas.
Audio description written by Pauline McCreath and voiced by Carol Wellman Kelly
The Gallery’s Acknowledgement of Country, and information on culturally sensitive and restricted content and the use of historic language in the collection can be found here.
Helena Rubinstein in a red brocade Balenciaga gown
oil on canvas (frame: 174.4 cm x 111.0 cmdepth 6.7 cm, support: 156.8 cm x 92.7 cm)
Helena Rubinstein (1872–1965) started one of the world's first global cosmetic companies in Melbourne in 1902. Rubinstein left her home in Kraków, Poland in 1896 and joined family members in Coleraine, Victoria. While there, she hit upon the idea that face cream could be 'improved' with the addition of lanolin from local fleeces. The beauty salon she later opened in Elizabeth Street, Melbourne specialised in a product said to contain rare herbs from eastern Europe, but which was made with lanolin, 'vegetable oil, mineral oil and wax'. The business expanded, and in 1908 she departed Australia to open salons in London and Paris. Fleeing wartime France, she opened in New York in 1916. Other stand-alone and department store salons followed. Integral to Rubinstein's great success was her awareness that she was the most effective ambassador for the brand, and that she must display luxury herself in fashion and grooming. Her wardrobe, consequently, contained gowns by the most illustrious Parisian designers.
When she sat for British artist Graham Sutherland OM, she wore a gown by Balenciaga, which Sutherland thought made her look like an empress. He ultimately made three paintings of her. She acquired this one for herself and displayed at her home in New York City. In her 1964 memoir My Life for Beauty, Rubinstein described Sutherland's portraits as 'incredibly bold, domineering interpretations of what I had never imagined I looked like', but conceded that 'as paintings they were indeed masterpieces'.
The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. Works of art from the collection are reproduced as per the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The use of images of works from the collection may be restricted under the Act. Requests for a reproduction of a work of art can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.
