The Easel

Archives: Leo Braudy

30th September 2025

The Lucas Museum and the Question of Narrative Art

Important, maybe. Geoge Lucas is using his Star Wars fortune to build a Museum of Narrative Art. Narrative art is visual storytelling where the representation of physical movement conveys “elapsed time.” The Chauvet cave paintings, for example, imply the pursuit of animals. Bas-relief carvings show Egyptian pharaohs sallying forth in their chariots. And the Bayeux Tapestry justifies William the Conqueror’s invasion of England. The take-out seems to be that movies are narrative art par excellence.