George Lucas purchases a Norman Rockwell painting for his museum under construction in Los Angeles

George Lucas, director of "Star Wars," has purchased the painting “Shuffleton’s Barbershop” by Norman Rockwell with the intention of displaying it in his museum, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, under construction in Los Angeles.

The news comes several weeks after a legal dispute: the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield was willing, albeit reluctantly, to surrender the 1959 painting to mend its finances; of a different opinion were the artist’s heirs who did not want a private buyer such as Sotheby’s auction house.The court allowed the museum to deprive itself of some works in favor of the auction house (13 works valued at between $20 million and $28 million were mentioned), but for the Rockwell, the most valuable piece in the collection, it was preferred to allocate it to a place that would safeguard the painting’s public enjoyment.

In the end, “Shuffleton’s Barbershop” was purchased by the Lucas Museum for between $20 million and $30 million and will join 13 other works and eight drawings by Rockwell already purchased by the museum, which is expected to open its doors by 2022.
Don Bacigalupi, newly hired as the museum’s director, is excited about the purchase: “We are very pleased to be able to add this work to our collection. It will be a foundational piece for our museum, and we are honored to be able to share it with the public.”

In the meantime, the Berkshire Museum would total about $55 million from the sale of the redundant works, healing, thus, its financial problems.

George Lucas purchases a Norman Rockwell painting for his museum under construction in Los Angeles

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