Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

George Lucas Pits LA Against SF But Still Can’t Find a Home for His ‘Narrative Art’ Museum Project

January 9, 2017 by Marion Maneker

lucas-museum-sf-rendering
Lucas Museum rendering for San Francisco

According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s Devin Leonard, George Lucas is having a lot of trouble getting his museum of narrative art built. Lucas thinks his popularity has created opposition from envious snobs; the cities feel Lucas has been difficult to work with:

Lucas has long been vexed by popularity: It’s the source of his riches, but also the thing that, he says, prompts elites to dismiss his work. It’s also an amplifier for discontent when crowds and critics complain that he has no taste. And yet in retirement, he’s mounted a legacy project that’s grand even by the standards of someone who thinks on a galactic scale. He wants to construct a Lucas museum to house and display his art collection—much of it proudly lowbrow, such as works by the sentimentalist Norman Rockwell; original Flash Gordon comic book art; Mad magazine covers; and memorabilia from his own Star Wars films. According to an early plan for the museum, his trove of Star Wars material includes 500,000 artifacts from the prequels alone.

Lucas refers to such works as “narrative art,” the kind that “tells a story.” He believes they’ve been unfairly ignored by snooty critics and curators, and he wants his museum to rectify that. Lucas has offered to build his museum in a major American city for free. Including construction costs, an endowment, and the value of the artwork, his organization says the total value of his gift is $1.5 billion.

“It’s an epic act of generosity and altruism,” says Don Bacigalupi, the museum effort’s president. “George Lucas, as with any person of great resources and great success, could choose to do whatever he wants to do with his resources, and he has chosen to give an extraordinary gift to the people of a city and the world.”

George Lucas Can’t Give His $1.5 Billion Museum Away (Bloomberg)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Painting to See His Name EverywherePainting to See His Name Everywhere
  • Chinese Diamond Demand Still RisingChinese Diamond Demand Still Rising
  • I/M Evening Sale TotalsI/M Evening Sale Totals
  • It’s Norman Lewis’s MomentIt’s Norman Lewis’s Moment
  • The Story of a MonetThe Story of a Monet
  • Corporate Social Responsibility Drives Indonesian ArtCorporate Social Responsibility Drives Indonesian Art

Filed Under: Collectors, General, Museums

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • Roy Lichtenstein’s Top Ten Auction Prices
  • How to Chant Like an Auctioneer
  • Tracey Emin Neon Lights Up Sotheby's 'Contemporary Showcase' Pop-Up
  • 14th-Century Painting to Sell at Auction Under Restitution Settlement with German-Jewish Art Historian’s Heir
  • Phillips Includes $2.5m Norman Rockwell Painting in November Evening Sale
  • David Hockney's $20m Pacific Coast Highway & Santa Monica
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor