George Lucas says opening Lucas Museum almost broke his will
George Lucas says opening the long-planned Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles almost broke his will after 17 years of work with wife Mellody Hobson. The Star Wars creator previewed the 300,000-square-foot, spaceship-like museum Wednesday next to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum; it opens to the public September 22.
Lucas spoke about the long effort at a media preview reported by Variety. “I’m used to doing the impossible,” the Star Wars creator said, calling himself a contrarian “fascinated by doing things that people say can’t be done.”
“This one almost broke my will,” Lucas said. He and Hobson have been working on the museum concept for 17 years.
Key Takeaways
- George Lucas and Mellody Hobson have spent 17 years developing the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles.
- The 300,000-square-foot, spaceship-like building sits next to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and opens September 22.
- More than 30 galleries mix Star Wars props with narrative art from Norman Rockwell, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and others.
- Lucas said the museum is meant to honor illustrators whose pictures make myths feel real.
Why did George Lucas say the museum almost broke his will?
Lucas said he is fascinated by doing things people claim cannot be done, and that this project almost broke his will. He also credited the team around him.
“The great people that we’ve assembled to do this have been a big advantage,” Lucas said. The museum is designed by Ma Yansong of MAD with Stansec, with landscape architecture by Mia Lehrer.
What will visitors see when the Lucas Museum opens?
The museum packs more than 30 galleries with Lucas’ collection of narrative art. That includes an extensive group of Norman Rockwell paintings plus works by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Maxfield Parrish and Frank Frazetta, along with photography, comic book art and Western paintings and sculptures.
A gallery is packed with life-sized Star Wars props. Variety’s preview included General Grievous’ wheel bike and Darth Vader’s costume from “Revenge of the Sith,” an Imperial speeder bike and Jabba the Hutt’s sail barge from “Return of the Jedi,” Darth Maul’s Sith speeder, R2-D2 and C-3PO, and Anakin’s airspeeder from “Attack of the Clones.”
Other displays pair Mace Windu’s costume from “The Phantom Menace” with Owen Lars’ swoop bike from “Attack of the Clones,” and show Princess Leia as an Endor rebel. Beyond Star Wars, the museum has a Batman stunt costume from “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises,” an Indiana Jones statue by Lawrence Noble, Conan the Barbarian art by Sanjulian, a manga gallery and an original costume from 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz.”
On the first floor, digital and physical art from the Renaissance and beyond portrays heroes, myths and the sacred. The fifth floor looks out on the downtown Los Angeles skyline. From the gardens, the building resembles a UFO. An oculus overlooks the courtyard, and the distinctive shape creates an undulating shaded area in front of the lobby.
Why does Lucas want a museum of narrative art?
For Lucas, art and culture are inextricably combined. He said he felt “very, very strongly” about honoring illustrators: “artists who illustrate stories that are already written, and most of the stories are myths; they’re not real, but the illustrations make them real.”
“A picture is very powerful, and the stories are very powerful, and you combine them together, and those two elements create a society,” Lucas said. That idea should land with readers who follow streaming and TV alerts and grew up on illustrated myth, from comics to “Star Wars.”
The bookstore and gift shop include Star Wars-themed items and books on the artists in the collection. Founders Lucas and Hobson previewed the museum for the media Wednesday. It opens to the public September 22.