Yoda meets Frida Kahlo: George Lucas’ $1 billion museum isn’t just for Star Wars fans
independent.co.uk • • entertainment
Key Points:
- The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, a $1 billion project founded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, has opened in Los Angeles near USC, featuring a futuristic 300,000-square-foot building designed by architect Ma Yansong.
- The museum aims to showcase narrative art throughout history, blending high and low culture with exhibits ranging from Frida Kahlo and Van Gogh to Batman suits and original Peanuts illustrations.
- George Lucas emphasizes elevating illustrators and storytellers, highlighting the power of images combined with stories to shape society, with only a small portion of the collection dedicated to Lucasfilm archives.
- Critics argue the museum needs more contextualization, but CEO Tracey Bates explains the choice to let the art speak for itself, encouraging visitors to engage directly with the images.
- The museum also serves as a celebration and preservation of the art of storytelling in visual form, aiming to inspire creativity amid a changing landscape where traditional narrative art is increasingly mechanized.
