Robert Crumb’s The Book of Genesis (2009), the US cartoonist’s epic illustration of the first 50 chapters of the Bible, has been acquired by the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, founded by Star Wars creator George Lucas.
Shown at the 2013 Venice Biennale, The Book of Genesis is a “milestone work by a pivotal figure in the Underground Comix movement of the 1960s and beyond”, says Don Bacigalupi, the museum’s founding president. In more than 200 drawings, Crumb illustrates the first book of the Bible, in which God creates the world and makes man.
The acquisition is part of the museum’s push to buy “major works” ahead of its planned opening in 2019-20 on Chicago’s waterfront. A revised design for the futuristic building was announced last month. The collection includes narrative work “in many media and from many cultures, including painting, sculpture, illustration, comic art, animation, film designs and costumes,” Bacigalupi says.