Images Of The Pacific Rim: Australia and California, 1850-1935

(Paperback)

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Description

Australia and California have shared aesthetic ideas through imported popular imagery for nearly 200 years. From gold rush photography to Spanish-style houses, this is the fascinating story of aesthetic exchange between two cultures. The absorption of images into the everyday life of these 'new' Western societies, made possible by the development of mechanical processes of production, constructed distinctive cultural iconographies. The Pacific Rim aesthetic is revealed through photography, graphic art, architecture and the ubiquitous eucalyptous.

Reviews

"A lucid picture of how much Australia and California have interacted with and influenced each other over the last 150 years."--Houses

"Comparisons between historical and cultural developments in Australia and the American West/California are frequently made, but this is the first significant study to examine the eclectic and symbiotic nature of the aesthetic exchange between the two evolving frontier regions. Summing up: Recommended."--Choice, July 2011

"Impeccable scholarship and beautiful illustrations convincingly equates the material culture of commercial promotion that encouraged the settlement of the antipodes and the Golden State. An intriguing and novel topic made accessible and compelling. This lovely volume will appeal to readers on many levels."--Library Journal, April 2011

"It is a book which opens fresh perspectives as one muses on the impact of Hollywood on Australian cinema and, later, on the effect on Australian culture of the flood of American pop culture from California."--Sasha Grishin, The Canberra Times, December 2011

Author Bio

Erika Esau is a native Californian who spent more than a decade teaching art history--including the history of Australian art--at the Australian National University, Canberra. Her writings on Australian art and culture include the Blue Guide Australia (with George Boeck) and E.O. Hopp's Australia (with Graham Howe). Images of the Pacific Rim is part of the four-book series Australian Studies in Art and Art Theory and is published with the assistance of the Getty Foundation and the Nelson Meers Foundation.