Sept. 29, 2026 5:30 AM PT
To the editor: The principal irony of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is that it is founded on a strongly Duchampian premise while almost completely ignoring avant-garde art (“Will the Lucas Museum upend the art world? Depends if the people embrace ‘the people’s art,’” Sept. 9). Referring to his still provocative readymades, Marcel Duchamp said, “Here it is, a thing that I call art.” With his new museum, George Lucas echoes Duchamp: Here it is, an illustration that I call art.
Proclaiming his museum to be “a temple to the people’s art,” the museum is in fact a monument to Lucas’ own idiosyncratic taste. According to the International Council of Museums, a museum “educates” and “interprets.” The Lucas Museum does neither. It is simply a context-free collection.
The lack of interpretative text leaves even the most basic questions unanswered. What are underground comix that are on display? Who are all these painters named Wyeth? It is an impressive collection, but lacks the interpretation to prove Lucas’ thesis that the displayed illustration is fine art.
Dave Bryant, Woodland Hills
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To the editor: The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is actually not of this time, but looks pulled right out of the future (“‘I flew 6,800 miles to be here’: First impressions of the Lucas Museum on opening day,” Sept. 23). Inside, however, there are art items of the past and present for us to gaze at, to inhale their intrinsic qualities and walk away with cherished memories forever.
Lucas explains that “Narrative art tells the story of a society, what the common beliefs are that hold it together.” The museum’s 100,000 square feet of galleries contain not only its art collection, but extensive film archives with costumes, artwork and artifacts from Lucas’ films covering the 1970s to 2012, with 7% of its space for the “Star Wars” saga. It would be so easy to spend the entire day at the museum due to not only the artwork, but its two cinematic theaters, cafe, rooftop restaurant and various retail spaces.
Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson, stopped at nothing to bring this magical edifice to life with their simple vision of “a museum made of stories,” set in a futuristic building rivaling Captain Kirk’s Enterprise. The still very popular “Star Wars” adage of “May the force be with you” can now be bestowed on Lucas and Hobson, as they did indeed bring that Force to Los Angeles for all to see, appreciate and remember.
Bill Spitalnick, Newport Beach
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To the editor: I read a couple articles about the Lucas Museum that weren’t exactly positive about it. My wife and I are “founding members,” so we got to go early and we really, really enjoyed it, as did many others we talked to or overheard while walking and looking at pictures, etc.
The one thing I was disappointed in is that there were no cars or even images from “American Graffiti,” Lucas’ hit movie that helped fund “Star Wars.”
Mitch Perliss, Sherman Oaks