Lucas is among 16 contenders to develop part of San Francisco’s federally-managed Presidio park. His $300 million proposal? To build the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum, which will house his substantial art collection, including a vast array of paintings by fantasist Maxfield Parrish and that master of homespun Americana, Norman Rockwell. When considering the works of art he would be donating, the gift to the city of San Francisco would likely top $1 billion. However, he’ll have to out-bid other prominent contenders, including the backers of a proposed museum about the New Deal, a tourist center for the Golden Gate Bridge, an institute for urban studies, and an observatory.
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This isn’t Lucas’ first foray into the art world. In 2010, Lucas Licensing partnered with Abrams Books to publish Star Wars Art: Visions, a collection of paintings inspired by the saga but rendered by luminaries of fine art. Certainly, Star Wars’ conceptual artists like Ralph McQuarrie and Joe Johnston contributed an astonishing amount to the look of the Lucasverse, as have the various artists have drawn panels for Star Wars comics and graphic novels. But Visions compiled art from painters who hadn’t really been involved in Star Wars before, like Moebius, Daniel Greene, and Donato Giancola. To honor Lucas’ bid to build an art museum we’ve compiled eight of the very best of these fine art renderings of Star Wars. Check out what happens when that Galaxy Far, Far Away goes high-brow:
GALLERY: 8 Works of Museum-Caliber ‘Star Wars’ Fine Art
What do you think? Is Lucas ready to take the art world by storm?
Follow Christian Blauvelt on Twitter @Ctblauvelt
[Photo Credit: Abrams Books]
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