Willing to Be Lucky: Ambitious New Yorkers in the Pages of LOOK Magazine

Willing to Be Lucky is drawn from the Museum’s collection of photographs from LOOK, one of the 20th century’s most influential pictorial magazines. Featuring more than 100 images from the 1940s and ‘50s, the exhibition focuses on individuals—both celebrities and ordinary people—who, in pursuing their dreams, were just offbeat enough, with a little luck, to land them in the pages of LOOK. Themes include dancers, boxers, showgirls, artists, and overnight sensations, and the early photography work of Stanley Kubrick is prominently featured. The title is drawn from E. B. White’s celebrated 1949 essay "Here Is New York," in which he asserted, "No one should come to New York to live unless he is willing to be lucky."

Willing to Be Lucky is made possible by the Marlene Nathan Meyerson Family Foundation and the Ferris Foundation. Additional support is provided by Crane & Co. Museo Fine Art Papers.

Press release is available here.