Frida Kahlo Autorretrato dedicado al Dr. Eloesser (Self-Portrait Dedicated to Dr. Eloesser), 1940 Oil on Masonite 34 x 26 x 3 ½ in. framed 2020.50.1
Pieter Brueghel the Younger, The Alchemist, ca. 1600, Oil on oak panel, 36 ¾ x 48 x 3 in. framed; 27 1/6 x 37 ¾ x 5/8 in. canvas, 2020.25.1
Kadir Nelson Art Connoisseurs, cover for The New Yorker, December 2, 2019 Oil on panel 74 x 64 x 4 ½ in. framed; 60 x 50 x 1 ½ in. canvas 2020.11.4
Narrative art is created to represent stories through images. Much of the world’s artistic expression has been motivated by storytelling, transmitting narratives rooted in religion, myth, history, literature, or events. Narrative art appears in many forms, from cave drawings and hieroglyphics to paintings, murals, illustration, comics, and sculpture.
Narrative art has proliferated in photography, magazine and book illustration, film, and digital media, addressing wide audiences and reminding them of the myths and stories that influence everyday life.
The Lucas Museum shows how narrative art influences societies—shaping beliefs, communicating values, inspiring imagination, and creating communities. We empower people to engage with artworks through the compelling stories they tell.
The museum is also a home for "the orphaned arts"—the narrative, illustrative and commercial art that has shaped our collective imagination. "I've worked with hundreds of illustrators in my life and they're all brilliant,” says Lucas of many artists who have him make his own creative vision a reality. “They're all great. But they don't get recognized at all"
John Tenniel, "The Rabbit Scurried Away into the Darkness," illustration for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 1864, Pencil and watercolor on paper
Jean Henri Gaston Giraud (Moebius), Starwatcher II, 1985, Media unknown
Jessie Willcox Smith, Jack and the Beanstalk, illustration for A Child's Book of Stories, 1911, Oil on illustration board
Norman Theodore Mingo, Cover for Mad no. 77, 1963, Gouache on watercolor with brush on illustration board
J. C. Leyendecker, Football Players and Fans, illustration for Kuppenheimer Good Clothes, 1920, Oil on canvas
T. C. Cannon, A Remembered Muse (Tosca), 1978, Color woodcut on paper
Jaime Hernandez, Cover for Love and Rockets vol. 1, no. 20, 1987, Ink, whiteout, and blue pencil on Bristol board
Robert Theodore McCall, Earth Orbit '98, cover for Future, 1977, Acrylic on canvas
Norman Rockwell, After the Prom, cover for The Saturday Evening Post, May 25, 1957, Oil on canvas
Jim Davis, Garfield daily strip, December 21, 1985, Ink on Bristol board
N.C. Wyeth, The Storybook, cover for Ladies' Home Journal, March 1922, Oil on canvas
N.C. Wyeth, The Duel on the Beach, illustration for Ladies' Home Journal, September 1931, Oil on canvas
EH. Shepard, Christopher Robin Organizes His Expedition, illustration for The House at Pooh Corner, 1928, Pen, ink, and watercolor with pencil
Chris Ware, Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth, 1993, Ink, colored pencil, and gouache on paper
Robert Crumb, Cover for Fritz the Cat, 1969, Ink on Bristol board
Jack Kirby and Syd Shores, Cover for Captain America #109, 1969, Ink and graphite on Bristol board
Winsor McCay, Editorial Cartoon for The New York American, ca. 1916-17, Ink, graphite pencil, and blue pencil on Bristol board
Jerry Pinkney, Illustration for Black Cowboy, Wild Horses: A True Story, 1998, Watercolor on paper
Cabin in the Sky, 1943, 27 x 41 in. one sheet style A
Malcolm Smith, Crusade Across the Void, cover for Amazing Stories 16, no. 19, October 1942, Mixed media on board
Kadir Nelson, Flight of the Clotilda, cover for National Geographic, 2020, Oil on canvas
Kadir Nelson, A Day at the Beach, cover for The New Yorker, July 11 and 18, 2016, Oil on canvas
Mary Cassatt, Children Playing with a Cat, 1907-8, Oil on canvas
N.C. Wyeth, "Ramona and Alessandro on the Narrow Trail," illustration for Ramona, 1939, Oil on hardboard
Gordon Parks, Department Store, Mobile Alabama, 1956, unpublished photograph for LIFE, 1956, 1965, (Printed 2012), Archival pigment print, 28 × 28 in. (71.1 × 71.1 cm)
N. C. Wyeth, For a mile, or thereabouts, my raft went very well, 1920, Oil on canvas
Maurice Sendak, IBBY Congress 1990, 1988, Pen, ink and watercolor on paper
Raúl Colón, Leaving the Frame, illustration for Imagine!, 2018, Colored pencil on paper
Frank Adams, Cover illustration for The Three Little Pigs, 1930, Ink and watercolor on paper
Maxfield Parrish, Ecstasy, illustration for Edison Mazda calendar, 1930, Oil on board
Miguel Covarrubias, Hollywood's Malibu Beach, 1933, Gouache and brush and ink on paper
Norman Rockwell, Age of Romance, cover for The Saturday Evening Post, November 10, 1923, Oil on canvas
Ernie Barnes, The Critic’s Corner, 2007, Acrylic on canvas
Jon Whitcomb, Couple Embracing, She with Flowers in Her Hair, 1950, Oil on paper
Carmen Lomas Garza, Sandía, 1997, Lithographic print on archival cotton paper
Stevan Dohanos, Model Home, 1974, Oil on Masonite
Stevan Dohanos, Chocolate Easter Bunnies, 1950
Eduardo Cataño, Ataque a la gran Tenochtitlan, 1950, Oil on canvas
Diego Rivera, Opponent of Nazism, from Portrait of America, 1933, Portable fresco panel
Joey Terrill, Cover art for Chicos Modernos vol. 3, 1989, Ink and colored pencil on paper
Osamu Tezuka, Astro Boy, 1963, Ink and watercolor on paper
Charles M. Schulz, Peanuts, 1969, Ink on board
Marie-George Jean Méilès, Storyboard for La voyage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon), 1902, Pen, ink, colored pencil on paper
Ed Valigursky, Cover illustration for The Snows of Ganymede, 1958, Acrylic on board
Cover for Persecución macabra from the series Micro Leyendas, 1970, Gouache on paper
Frank C. McCarthy, Cover for Dangerous Voyage, 1953, Gouache and oil on board
Frank Frazetta, Cover for A Princess of Mars, 1970, Oil on canvas board
Alphonse Mucha, Les Calendrier des Saison, 1895, Lithograph on paper
Jeffrey Catherine Jones, Cover illustration for Dark of the Woods, 1970, Mixed media on paper
Gino D’Achille, Star Born, 1984, Acrylic on board
Norman Rockwell, Study for Triple Self Portrait, 1960, Oil on photographic paper laid on panel
Norman Rockwell, The Gossips, cover for The Saturday Evening Post, March 6, 1948, Oil on canvas
Jessie Willcox Smith, Little Red Riding Hood, 1911, Mixed media on illustration board
Paul C. Stahr, Retouching an Old Masterpiece, cover for Life, July 1, 1915, Watercolor, gouache, pen and black ink on paper
Thomas Hart Benton, American Historical Epic, Second Chapter: Axes (Clearing the Land), 1924-27, Oil on cotton duck
Pieter Brueghel the Younger, The Alchemist, ca. 1600, Oil on oak panel
Alfredo Ramos, Vendedoras de Frutas (Fruit Vendors), ca. 1937, Fresco mounted on Celotex, 31 x 24 in. image; 41 ¼ x 34 ¼ x 2 9/16 in. 2021.37.1
Yinka Shonibare, Crash Willy, 2009, Cotton, leather, fiberglass, and metal, 52 ½ x 61 x 97 in. 2017.5.1a-n
N.C. Wyeth, "Slag was a figure for sculptors," illustration for "The Mild-Mannered Man," Everybody's Magazine, vol. 40, January 1919, Oil on canvas, 41 ¾ x 31 ¾ x 1 ¾ in. framed; 39 ¼ x 29 ¼ x 1 ½ in. canvas, 2020.87.1
Shepard Fairey and Ernesto Yerena, Immigration Reform Now, 2010, Stencil, silkscreen, and collage on canvas, 60 ¼ x 44 ¼ x 2 in. 2019.65.1
Ralph McQuarrie, Artoo and Threepio leave the pod in the desert, production art for Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, January 31, 1975, Acrylic and gouache on illustration board, 18 x 28 x 3/8 in. matted; 13 ¼ x 23 in. sheet; 8 x 16 ¼ in. image, 2013.005241
Henri Cartier-Bresson, A farewell service for the late actor Danjuro held on November 13, 1965, at the Aoyama Funeral Hall, Tokyo, according to Shinto rites, 1965; printed ca. 1990s, Gelatin silver print, 9 ½ x 14 ¼ in. image; 12 x 15 15/16 in. sheet, 2020.30.1
George Herriman, Krazy Kat Sunday Comic Strip, January 18, 1923, Ink and graphite pencil on Bristol board, 21 x 19 in. image; 23 ¼ x 19 ½ in. 2019.19.1
Miguel Covarrubias, Rumba, 1942, Lithograph, 9 ½ x 13 5/8 in. image; 11 ¼ x 15 ½ in. sheet, 2020.8.7
Jack Kirby and Frank Giacoia, Black Panther #6 cover, 1997, Ink over graphite on Bristol board, 16 ¾ x 11 3/8 in. image, 2020.20.9
Criselda Vasquez, The New American Gothic, 2017, Oil on canvas, 72 x 48 x 1 ¼ in. canvas, 2021.14.1
Poster for St. Louis Blues, 1929, ink on paper, 41 x 27 in. (104.1 x 68.6 cm), Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Los Angeles
Frida Kahlo, Autorretrato dedicado al Dr. Eloesser (Self-Portrait Dedicated to Dr. Eloesser), 1940, Oil on Masonite, 34 x 26 x 3 ½ in. framed, 2020.50.1
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Byoutsuchi Sonritsu (Sun Li), 1827-1830, Oban woodblock print, 14 15/16 x 10 7/16 in. sheet, 2020.47.1
Jeffrey Catherine Jones, Cover for Star Hunter and Voodoo Planet, 1968, Acrylic on board
Robert Colescott, George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware: Page from an American History Textbook, 1975, Acrylic on canvas
Charles White, Study for Mary McLeod Bethune, mural for the Los Angeles Public Library, 1977-78, Acrylic on illustration board
Kadir Nelson, Art Connoisseurs, cover for The New Yorker, December 2, 2019, Oil on panel
Jessie Willcox Smith, "The Sewing Lesson", cover for Collier's, vol 40, no. 14, December 28, 1907, Watercolor, gouache and charcoal on board
Jacob Lawrence, Good People Gave Them Food To Eat and a Chance to Rest Their Weary Feet,” illustration for Harriet and the Promised Land, 1967, Gouache and tempera on paper
Paul Cadmus, The Haircut, 1986, Egg tempera on fiberboard
Carrie Mae Weems, Untitled, (Outtake from the Kitchen Table Series), 1990-1992, Gelatin silver print
Norman Rockwell, Shuffleton's Barbershop, cover for The Saturday Evening Post, April 29, 1950, Oil on canvas
Judith F. Baca, final coloration for 1950: The Development of Suburbia, for The Great Wall of Los Angeles, 1983, Judith F. Baca/Image courtesy ofthe SPARC Archives (SPARCinLA.org)