Looking at LIFE - - Exhibitions - Staley-Wise Gallery

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Installation view

Martha Holmes

Santa's workshop at F.A.O. Schwartz, New York, 1947

In December 1947, famed New York toy store FAO Schwarz produced a dedicated phone line on which children could dial the number (MU 8-2205) and detail their Christmas lists directly to “Santa” himself. LIFE noted: “So far, the experiment has caught hold among both rich and poor — so much so that some callers want to talk all day. Santa handles this by jingling a few bells and saying, ‘That’s Dasher and Dancer. They want me to feed them. Goodbye.’”

J.R. Eyerman

Audience watches premiere of "Bwana Devil" wearing Polaroid spectacles to enjoy the three dimensional sequences, Hollywood, CA, 1952

Martha Holmes

Brooklyn Dodger fans celebrating 1955 World Series victory, Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 1955

On October 4, 1955, at Yankee Stadium, the Brooklyn Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in the World Series - the Yankees first loss since 1942, and only their second loss since 1926. The triumph of the underdog team inspired spontaneous celebrations throughout the States. It would be the first (and only) World Series win for the Dodgers before they relocated to the West Coast in 1957, becoming the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Alfred Eisenstaedt

VJ Day, Times Square, NY, August 14, 1945

Alfred Eisenstaedt’s iconic image of a sailor kissing a woman in a white uniform was taken in New York City’s Times Square on August 14, 1945, following the news of Japan’s surrender in World War II. The photograph was published a week later in LIFE magazine, along with other pictures of celebrations around the States of what came to be known as “V-J Day.” While many have come forward claiming to be the subjects, the exact identities of the man and woman have never been officially confirmed.

Since then, homages to this photograph continue to appear in popular culture, notably in a 1990 episode of The Simpsons and a live concert by Katy Perry for the Marines in 2012. Most recently, Amy Sherald restaged the kiss with a black male couple in her 2022 painting For Love, and for Country, which was included in her 2025 retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art as shown here.

Harry Benson

Halston & Liza Minelli, New York, 1978

In 1973, fashion designer Halston sold his line to Norton Simon, Inc., but retained control as the creative director. Flush with financial resources and desiring more space, he relocated his headquarters in 1978 to a 12,000 square foot space on the 21st floor of Olympic Tower at 641 5th Avenue. Halston complemented the 18-foot ceilings and spectacular views of New York with mirrored doors and walls (weighing over a ton each), dark red carpet, and what was rumored to be an annual budget of over $100,000 for orchids.

Alfred Eisenstaedt

Bojangles performing at Zanzibar, New York, 1954

Born in Virginia in 1878, Bill Robinson was given the nickname “Bojangles” as a child. He became a celebrated tap and vaudeville dancer, actor, singer, and civil-rights activist - and was the most highly paid entertainer in the first half of the 20th century.

Harry Benson

The Godfather: Francis Ford Coppola, Al Pacino and Diane Keaton, New York, 1971

Harry Benson

Kate & Nadja, 1993

Leonard McCombe

Clark Gable, Cary Grant and Bob Hope and David Niven during Oscar show rehearsal, RKO Pantage Theatre, Hollywood, 1958

Loomis Dean

Gene Kelly dancing on the steps of the Paris Opera, Paris, France, 1960

In 1960, the iconic actor and dancer Gene Kelly became the first American invited by the Paris Opera to choreograph an original ballet. Pas de Dieux featured a jazz score by George Gershwin and was a smash hit, and Kelly was later honored by the French government with the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. The extravagant and mysterious setting of the Ópera Garnier, including the famous entrance stairs that Kelly poses on, inspired Gaston Leroux’s 1910 gothic horror novel The Phantom of the Opera.

Harry Benson

USA for Africa: Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Willie Nelson, Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen, and Tina Turner, 1985

On January 28, 1985, Tina Turner, Lionel Richie, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Cyndi Lauper, and Michael Jackson entered A&M Recording Studios in Hollywood to record their vocals for the charity single “We Are the World.”

Produced by Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones under the name “USA for Africa,” the supergroup’s aim was to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Over a week, more than two dozen notable musical artists crowded into the studio to record parts for the song. A taped sign read: “check your ego at the door”. Wonder was also said to have threatened that any misbehavior or being unable to record their part in one take would result in him and Ray Charles driving everyone home.

“We are the World” would go on to sell 20 million physical copies and raised over 80 million dollars for humanitarian aid. It remains the 8th best-selling single of all time.

Loomis Dean

Noel Coward Las Vegas, 1955

Before joining LIFE magazine, Loomis Dean worked as a photographer for the U.S. Army and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Quick on his feet and unfazed by difficult subjects, he convinced playwright and composer Noel Coward to pose in the stifling hot Nevada desert by renting a limousine filled with liquor, tonic, and ice cubes. Coward allowed his dresser to help him into a tuxedo for the photograph, but then removed it and wore only his underwear for the ride back to Las Vegas.

Installation view

Paul Schutzer

Warren Beatty and Natalie Wood at the Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, France, 1962

Alfred Eisenstaedt

Bette Davis, Hollywood, CA, 1938

Alfred Eisenstaedt

Marlene Dietrich at a Costume Ball, Berlin, 1929

Alfred Eisenstaedt

Katharine Hepburn models one of her many costumes from the play "The Philadelphia Story", New York, 1939

John Dominis

Frank Sinatra with son Frank Jr. in Las Vegas, 1964

John Dominis

Frank Sinatra and Jackie Gleason, c. 1965

John Dominis

Frank Sinatra posing with Count Basie and his band, Las Vegas, 1964

Alfred Eisenstaedt

Marian Anderson, the great contralto in a rare performance of spIrituals, at the Academy of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 5, 1938

Alfred Eisenstaedt

Daydreaming Marilyn Monroe, California, 1953

Leonard McCombe

Lena Horne, New York, 1947

Allan Grant

Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly backstage at the 28th Annual Academy Awards, Hollywood, CA, 1956

Lisa Larsen

Grace Kelly, New York, 1956

Leonard McCombe

Kim Novak en route to New York City, 1956

John Dominis

Steve McQueen in black Jaguar at studio, California, 1963

Harry Benson

Four Generations of Carsons: Ricky Carson (Johnny's son), Johnny Carson, Christopher Carson (Johnny's grandfather), and Kit Carson (Johnny's father), Omaha, Nebraska, 1969

Martha Holmes

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall at The House UN-American Activities Committee hearing regarding communists in the film industry, 1947

Gjon Mili

Billie Holiday, NY, 1943

Loomis Dean

Sophia Loren and her manager and future husband Carlo Ponti, on the set of "Legend of the Lost", Cinecitta, Italy, 1957

Martha Holmes

Louis Armstrong backstage with Earl Hines and Billy Eckstine, New York, 1950

Peter Stackpole

Jimmy Stewart talking behind counter at his father's hardware store while his father chats with customer upon Stewart's return from WWII, Indiana, PA, 1947

An example of LIFE’s blend of photojournalism and celebrity can be seen in Peter Stackpole’s photographs of Jimmy Stewart’s return to his Pennsylvania hometown in 1945 after enlisting in the Army Air Corps. In only four years, Stewart became a decorated Colonel, flying missions in Nazi-occupied Europe. He was certainly the only veteran with an Academy Award for Best Award in 1940.

Installation view

Martha Holmes

Jackson Pollock in his studio, Springs, Long Island, New York, 1949

Gjon Mili

Pablo Picasso creating light drawing of vase of flowers, Vallauris, France, 1949

Photographer Gjon Mili collaborated with Pablo Picasso to create “light paintings”: experiments made in a dark room with a flashlight. While initially skeptical, Picasso later allowed Mili five additional photo sessions. Forty of the resulting photographs were exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in 1950.

Abe Frajndlich

Andreas Feininger, Triptych, NYC, 1988

Abe Frajndlich

Louise Dahl-Wolfe, In Closet with Camera, Princeton, N.J., 1988

Abe Frajndlich

Berenice Abbott, Umbrella & Fur, Abbott, Maine, 1986

Abe Frajndlich

Ruth Bernhard with Model, San Francisco, 1988

Andreas Feininger

Nude figure drawing class, Cape Cod, MA, 1946

Martha Holmes

Parts of giant advertising sign await unloading, NY, 1948

Loomis Dean

Model taking a five minute break, Oxbow, The Art Institute of Chicago's Summer Art School, Saugatuck, Michigan, 1949

John Dominis

Woodstock (color), NY, 1969

Installation view

Nina Leen

Racetrack Fashions, New York, 1958. (Plaids and checks lined up at Roosevelt Raceway window)

Harry Benson

Quarterback Roger Staubach with UT Austin Coach Tom Landry, Dallas Cowboys, 1972

Roger Staubach played quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys for 11 seasons and led the Cowboys to their first Super Bowl win in 1972. (This photograph was published on the cover of LIFE just a few days before the game on January 16, 1972.) His coach, Thomas Landry, was actually the first head coach for the Cowboys when the team launched in 1960, and Landry remained the coach for the next 29 years – an NFL record.

Carl Mydans

Teenage Texas migrants share their homeless journey, 1937

Loomis Dean

Anthony Armstrong-Jones' half brothers, the Honorable Desmond Parsons and Lord Oxmantown, at the wedding of Armstrong-Jones and Princess Margaret, London, 1960

Installation view

John Dominis

Diving, Olympic pool, Melbourne, Australia, 1956

George Silk

Tourists Climb Fox Glacier in Tasman National Park, New Zealand, 1946

Installation view

Yale Joel

Little League spokesman voices players' demand for pants, Manchester, NH, 1954

Leonard McCombe

Little boy with railroad workers, Arkansas, 1955

Carl Mydans

Roustabouts take time off from their job, Freer, TX, 1937

Alfred Eisenstaedt

Monks along the River Arno, Florence, Italy, 1935

Leonard McCombe

Men enjoying ice cream, Iowa State Fair, 1952

The importance of home and a sense of belonging was highlighted in LIFE’s 1952 photo essay by Leonard McCombe, published on the occasion of McCombe’s official USA citizenship after 7 years in America. McCombe spent a lonely first summer in New York at the age of 23, documenting the idiosyncrasies and frustrations of his new home.

“I began to notice the difference in my own countrymen. I’d never even seen men eating ice cream (that was only a children’s treat in England),” McCombe said, “but by now – seven years after I set foot on American soil – I have been buffeted and shaped until I fit. I feel I am a citizen of the place where I belong.”

Margaret Bourke-White

Diversion tunnel construction, Fort Peck Dam, 1936

Margaret Bourke-White was one of the four original staff photographers for LIFE, selected by Henry Luce alongside Alfred Eisenstaedt, Peter Stackpole, and Thomas McAvoy.

In 1936, Luce dispatched Bourke-White to Montana to photograph the construction of the Fort Peck Dam, one of the major New Deal projects under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency. Her photograph of the tunnel construction is shown here, and another photograph from this series appeared on the cover of the first issue of LIFE Magazine on November 23, 1936, as shown here.

Margaret Bourke-White

Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Baltimore, Maryland, 1935

Margaret Bourke-White

Ford Motor Company foreman shields his eyes against fiery light of open hearth mill, Detroit, MI, 1929

Margaret Bourke-White

Hats In The Garment District New York, 1930

Margaret Bourke-White

Crewmen unloading huge B-52 bomber engine used as spare, from the belly of a C-124 Cargo plane upon arrival at Strategic Air Commands's advance base, 1951

In addition to her work documenting American industry, Margaret Bourke-White also became America’s first accredited woman photographer in WWII and the first authorized to accompany Air Corps crews on dangerous bombing missions - well earning her the nickname among her colleagues at LIFE: “Maggie the Indestructible.”

John Dominis

Propman and rubber rocks, Universal City, Hollywood, 1963

Andreas Feininger

Warehouse dock, Brooklyn, NY, 1948

J.R. Eyerman

Howard Hughes in cockpit of Spruce Goose, 1947

In 1942, the US War Department commissioned Howard Hughes and the Hughes Aircraft Company to build a plane large enough to transport large volumes of war material and personnel to Britain, but without the crucial materials needed elsewhere in the war effort, such as aluminum.

Hughes proposed a “flying boat” made from wood which could carry 150,000 pounds and 750 troops. Three were ordered, but only one was built. The resulting effort–nicknamed the “Spruce Goose”–cost $23 million dollars (over $250 million today) and was beset by so many construction delays that it was only finished two years after the war ended.

J.R. Eyerman, who developed several innovations in photography, including camera mechanisms to photograph an atomic blast 3,600 feet below the ocean’s surface, was thus the perfect photographer to appreciate Hughes’ efforts. In 1947, he photographed Hughes in the cockpit of the Spruce Goose before its first (and only) flight, which lasted thirty seconds.

Hughes, who later testified at Senate hearings regarding the use of government funds for the aircraft, secretly arranged for the plane to be maintained by a complete crew until his death in 1976. The plane is now held at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in Oregon.