Great Women Collectors

Catherine the Great of Russia acquired art voraciously. Cosmetics magnate Helena Rubenstein collected African and contemporary art, miniature furniture, and Victorian glass. Coco Chanel amassed all enormous hoard of French 18th-century furniture. This fresh and fascinating volume is the first to look at women who, from 1750 to the present, have assembled significant collections of art, ceramics, jewelry, glass, furniture, textiles, and other objects.

The kinds of collections these empresses,...