Preview select art from amongst the 1,200 works at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, spanning film props, comics, and iconic photography.
Ernie Barnes, The Critic’s Corner, 2007. Acrylic on canvas, 23 1/2 x
35 3/8 in. (59.7 x 89.9 cm). Lucas Museum of Narrative Art,
2020.38.5. © ERNIE BARNES
Ahead of its September 22, 2026 opening, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art has offered a carefully curated first look at its inaugural exhibitions.
This early glimpse offers a hint at what’s to come.
The Full Picture
The new exhibitions will span more than 1,200 works across 100,000 square feet. But the first look stops short of detailing the full checklist of objects or gallery layouts. The museum preserves a sense of discovery for opening day.
Doug Chiang, Podrace Crash, production art for Star Wars: Episode I –
The Phantom Menace, 1995–99. Digital print. Lucas Museum of
Narrative Art, REP2025.8.2. © & ™ Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved.
Future Exhibitions Include:
Architecture – the innovative designs that inspired the architectural vision of the museum
Benton – selected works of Thomas Hart Benton’s depiction of American life
Children’s stories – illustrations of children’s literature by Beatrix Potter, Leo Politi, E.H. Shepard, Jacob Lawerence, and more
Cinema – a selection of production designs, props, and costumes from the Lucas Archives
Everyday life – a series of galleries dedicated to visual stories about Childhood, Community, Family, Love, Motherhood, Play, School, Sports, and Work, expressing the myths that have both reflected and shaped modern American society
Civic Life – artists’ portrayals of experience in the courthouse, the polling place, the political headquarters, and more
Comics • Graphic Stories – a showcase of the museum’s deep holdings of American and European comics, including works by Mœbius, Marie Severin, Jack Kirby, Alison Bechdel, Jim Lee, Frank Miller, and Rafael Navarro
Manga • Anime – selections from the Museum’s collection of the influential work in Japanese illustration and animation
Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California, 1936. Gelatin
silver print, 18 3/4 x 14 1/2 in. (47.6 x 36.8 cm). Lucas Museum of
Narrative Art, PKY.1062
Frazetta – selected illustrations and book covers by the flamboyant Frank Frazetta
History – paintings, prints, and illustrations telling (and pointedly re-telling) the stories of major historical events
Jessie Willcox Smith – classic scenes by the illustrator of fairy tales and childhood scenes
Murals – large-scale, public works of narrative art by Judith F. Baca, Diego Rivera, and JR
Narrative Forms: a series of galleries highlighting narrative art across genres of Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, and Science Fiction by artists including Julie Bell, Boris Vallejo, Ken Kelly, Georges Méliès, John C. Berkey, and Jeffrey Catherine Jones
Parrish – lush, dreamy visions from the early 20th century by illustrator Maxfield Parrish
Photography – powerful documentary images by Robert Capa, Gordon Parks, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Dorothea Lange, and others
Rockwell – a selection of the Museum’s renowned holdings of works by premier American illustrator Norman Rockwell
Wyeth – book illustrations from the 1910s through the 1940s by the incomparable N.C. Wyeth
Western Stories – myths of the American West, including wagon trains, shoot-outs, frontier towns, and more
E. H. Shepard, “Christopher Robin at the enchanted place,”
illustration for Home Chat, 1928. Graphite, ink, and watercolor on
paper, 9 3/4 x 7 in. (24.8 x 17.8 cm). Lucas Museum of Narrative Art,
PKY.3820
Teasing “The People’s Art”
One of the clearest messages in this early reveal is the museum’s commitment to forms often underrepresented in traditional institutions, like comics, illustration, manga, and film artifacts.
While the focus on more modern artforms is thrilling, the real excitement won’t begin until the doors of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art finally open this autumn.