American Arcadia: California and the Classical Tradition

Holliday (The Origins of Roman Historical Commemoration in the Visual Arts) catalogs and examines the many ways in which classicism has influenced visual culture, architecture, and society in California. Writing from a place of personal interest, California native Holliday, a professor of the history of art and classical archaeology at California State University, Long Beach, describes the importance of the Roman classical civilization in early American society and traces its influence on California, where Arcadian imagery was used to sell the state to outsiders and to help develop its identity in contrast to “the dense industrial cities of the East and Midwest.” Holliday discusses film, architecture, landscape painting, agriculture, water policy, and even fitness trends and spiritualism. Many noteworthy figures who helped cement the idea of California as an Arcadian paradise (intentionally or not) are also taken up, including writer John Muir, Mexican painter Diego Rivera, and public intellectual Charles Fletcher Lummis, who advocated for the preservation of California’s missions. In the last chapter, Holliday reflects on contemporary issues that stand in stark contrast against the concept of California as blissful utopia, namely urban sprawl, industry, and drought. Well-researched and all-encompassing, this is a thoughtful analysis of how contemporary Californian culture came to be. Photos. (June)