Australia and California have shared aesthetic ideas through imported popular imagery for nearly two hundred years. From gold rush photography to Spanish-style houses, Images of the Pacific Rim tells the fascinating story of aesthetic exchange between two 'cultures on the periphery'. 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 and helped to create a sense of place based upon a shared ocean and climate. Through photography, graphic art, architecture, and the ubiquitous eucalyptus, this book reveals the source elements of what became a 'Pacific Rim' aesthetic.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. Hoppé'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.