The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, the long-anticipated Los Angeles institution co-founded by filmmaker George Lucas and businesswoman Mellody Hobson, has unveiled the lineup for its inaugural exhibitions. The ambitious survey will feature more than 1,200 works drawn from a founding collection that spans more than 40,000 objects.
Housed in a 300,000-square-foot building designed by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects with Stantec, the museum is dedicated to what Lucas has called “the people’s art: the tradition of telling stories through images, from prehistoric cave paintings to comics and cinema.”
Spread across more than 30 galleries occupying roughly 100,000 square feet, the opening program traces visual storytelling across time periods and geographies. Several exhibitions are organized around enduring myths of love, family, community, and adventure, while others spotlight individual 20th-century figures.
Among the headlining solo presentations are Thomas Hart Benton, with selected works depicting American life; Jessie Willcox Smith, whose classic scenes illustrated fairy tales and other children’s books; and N.C. Wyeth, represented by book illustrations from the 1910s through the 1940s. Norman Rockwell, Maxfield Parrish, and Frank Frazetta will each receive their own dedicated galleries.
Themed exhibitions round out the presentations. “Children’s Stories” gathers illustrations by Beatrix Potter, Leo Politi, E.H. Shepard, and Jacob Lawrence. “Comics & Graphic Stories” showcases the museum’s holdings of American and European comics, with works by Mœbius, Marie Severin, Jack Kirby, Alison Bechdel, Jim Lee, Frank Miller, and Rafael Navarro, alongside a complementary survey of manga and anime. A “Murals” exhibition presents large-scale public works by Judith F. Baca, Diego Rivera, and JR, while “Narrative Forms” explores adventure, fantasy, romance, and science fiction through artists including Julie Bell, Boris Vallejo, Ken Kelly, Georges Méliès, John C. Berkey, and Jeffrey Catherine Jones.
A photography gallery brings together documentary images by Robert Capa, Gordon Parks, Alfred Eisenstaedt, and Dorothea Lange. Additional sections are devoted to architecture, cinema—drawing on production designs, props, and costumes from the Lucas Archives—history, “Civic Life,” “Western Stories,” and a suite of “Everyday Life” galleries on themes from childhood and motherhood to play, school, sports, and work. Works by Frida Kahlo, Charles White, Kadir Nelson, and Robert Colescott will also be on view. The museum opens on September 22nd.
