In 1972, Viscountess Bridgeman founded Bridgeman Images, today one of the world's most prominent image archives. In 2006, she was lobbied by art market professionals to set up the Artists' Collecting Society, which handles the copyright and resale rights of over 1000 artists, including such high-profile names as Lucian Freud and Stanley Spencer. She has also edited and packaged a number of books connected with the arts and edited two art magazines, The Masters and Discovering Antiques. In 1997, Harriet was awarded the European Women of the Achievement Award in the Arts and, in 2005, she was voted the International Business Woman of the Year. In 2013, she was awarded a CBE for her contribution to the arts.