8 Works of Museum-Caliber 'Star Wars' Fine Art

Buchanan notes that Lucas shot the primordial scene from A New Hope of Obi-Wan Kenobi giving Luke his father's lightsaber like a Vermeer painting, with a pure white back-light giving the characters a mythic glow. So he painted the moment in the style of the old Dutch master himself. [Photo Credit: Abrams Books]

The podrace sequence in The Phantom Menace really doesn't get enough credit. It's the summing up of George Lucas' love of all things that go vrooom. And it's a triumph of visceral sound design—none of John Williams' music plays during the race. Artist Patterson captures the rush of wind, the kickup of dust and sand like an intergalactic J.M.W. Turner. [Photo Credit: Abrams Books]

The French comic book artist, who died in 2012, was a huge influence on George Lucas with his ultra-detailed drawings for the Western series Blueberry and sci-fi tales Anzach and L'Incal. So he returned the favor by sketching Mos Espa's marketplace as seen in The Phantom Menace. Lucas paid tribute to Moebius in turn with an episode of The Clone Wars' rendered in the artist's style. Okay, we get it. You guys liked each other! [Photo Credit: Abrams Books]

Wretched hives of scum and villainy are perfect for chiaroscuro, it seems. [Photo Credit: Abrams Books]

Kind of the omega to Runaway Slave's alpha, now the son of said slave harnesses the power of the Force to destroy one of his father's most devastating weapons. Bye bye, Death Star. [Photo Credit: Abrams Books]

Who knew rancor-taming could be such an art? This elegant beast tamer with the Elizabethan headgear could really have lent a touch of class to Jabba's palace. [Photo Credit: Abrams Books]

"I enjoy art," Palpatine says in James Luceno's Darth Plagueis. "But I'm more of a minimalist." Based on the stark, monochromatic design of the Death Star, we could already tell that. like Pfeiffer's non-living still-life tribute to Luke's training on Dagobah is probably the only thing he'd have liked about Luke's training on Dagobah. [Photo Credit: Abrams Books]