American Arcadia

California and the Classical Tradition

Peter J. Holliday

Provides a new way of understanding California's history
Filled with stories of both key and lesser known figures and ideas from America's past, including William Randolph Hearst, Scientology, the Getty Villa, and Andrew Carnegie
Appealingly interdisciplinary, with anecdotal histories of architecture, fine art, religion and cults, landscape architecture, sculpture, and popular history
Includes over 150 rarely seen photographs, drawings, and illustrations, covering California's earliest days through to the present

American Arcadia

California and the Classical Tradition

Peter J. Holliday

Description

A vivid and engaging exploration of California's debt to the ancient world

Discussing the influence of the classics on America is nothing new; indeed, classical antiquity could be considered second only to Christianity as a force in modeling America's national identity. What has never been explored until now is how, from the beginning, Californians in particular chose to visually and culturally craft their new world using the rhetoric of classical antiquity.

Through a lively exploration of material culture, literature, and architecture, American Arcadia offers a tour through California's development as a Mediterranean haven from the late nineteenth century to the present. In its earliest days, California was touted as the last opportunity for alienated Yankees to establish the refined gentleman-farmer culture envisioned by Jefferson and build new cities free of the filth and corruption of those they left back East. Through architecture and landscape design Californians fashioned an Arcadian setting evocative of ancient Greece and Rome.Later, as Arcadia gave way to urban sprawl, entire city plans were drafted to conjure classical antiquity, self-styled villas dotted the hills, and utopian communities began to shape the state's social atmosphere.

Art historian Peter J. Holliday traces the classical influence primarily through the evidence of material culture, yet the book emphasizes the stories and people, famous and forgotten, behind the works, such as Florence Yoch, the renowned landscape designer and set designer for Gone with the Wind, and "Sister Aimee" Semple McPherson, the most publicized Christian evangelist of her day, whose sermons filled the Pantheon-like Angelus Temple. Telling stories from the creation of the famed aqueducts that turned the semi-arid landscape to a cornucopia of almonds, alfalfa, and oranges to the birth of the body-sculpting movement, American Arcadia offers readers a new way of seeing our past and ourselves.

American Arcadia

California and the Classical Tradition

Peter J. Holliday

Introduction
1. Out of the Wilderness, Arcadia
2. Promoting "Our Italy"
3. "Calitopia:" New Models for Cities
4. Private Citizens, Public Works
5. Utopian Communities
6. Spectacles en plein air
7. Houses and Gardens before World War II
8. The Southland House as a Set
9. A "Villa in a Garden" for the Masses
10. Palaces and Patrons in the 20th Century
11. Aphrodite, Atlas, and the California Body
12. Metaphors Misconstrued
Bibliography
Illustration Credis

American Arcadia

California and the Classical Tradition

Peter J. Holliday

Author Information

Peter J. Holliday is Professor of the History of Art and Classical Archaeology, California State University, Long Beach. Trained as an historian of classical art and archaeology, Holliday has received awards for his research and writing from the American Academy in Rome, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, J. Paul Getty Trust, Samuel H. Kress Foundation, and National Endowment for the Humanities.

American Arcadia

California and the Classical Tradition

Peter J. Holliday

Reviews and Awards

"Many works have considered classicism in America, but American Arcadia is the first to explore its manifestation in the Golden State. Peter Holliday details how Californian dreams were filled with Corinthian columns and temple pediments as well as palm trees and surf boards. This well-researched study is enriched by Holliday's deep knowledge of the classical world, extensive research, and a wonderful eye (and ear) for details and engaging stories." -- Diane Favro, University of California, Los Angeles

"What a wonderful contribution American Arcadia is to the cultural history of California. All around us, for all this time, California has been teeming with reference to the classical cultures of Greece and Rome--from place names like Pomona and Arcadia, to the Roman goddess of wisdom and war alongside the grizzly on our state seal, to that funny old state motto, 'Eureka, I've found it!' And yet nobody before the indefatigable Peter J. Holliday has had the scholarly acumen to sleuth out all the cultural sources and meanings of our classically-inspired architecture, public art, and city planning to shed new light on our collective Californian past, present, and future. A gift to the scholarship of our state!" -- Daniel Duane, author of Lighting Out: A Golden Year in Yosemite and the West, and Caught Inside: A Surfer's Year on the California Coast

"An eminent and absorbing contribution to the literature of California." -- Library Journal

"Well-researched and all-encompassing, this is a thoughtful analysis of how contemporary Californian culture came to be." --Publishers Weekly

"Before (and after) Spanish Revival, there was a dream of our state as a Grecian Eden. Holliday makes his case surprisingly well, starting with the state seal's declaration "Eureka" before moving on to movie star homes, civic centers and the over-the-top classicism of Hearst Castle and Getty Villa. Academic but picturesque, with a Southern California focus and no freeway gridlock in sight."--San Francisco Chronicle

American Arcadia

California and the Classical Tradition

Peter J. Holliday

From Our Blog

A tradition of classical architecture in California

Today, most people associate Southern California with images of palm trees, beaches, swimming pools, and the entertainment industry. If pressed to imagine an earlier era they might come up with 'old' Hollywood, the Gold Rush, or even the mission era. But how much of the Golden State can be attributed to the ancient Greeks and Romans?

Posted on May 25, 2016

Read the blog post

A guide to Southern California for classical art enthusiasts [interactive map]

Every year, millions of people visit California in search of beaches, hiking, celebrity sightings, and more. In the map below, Peter J. Holliday shows us his version of California, focusing on the rich history of classically inspired art and architecture in Southern California. Enjoy the stories of grand landmarks such as Hearst Castle, Pasadena City Hall, and the Getty Villa.

Posted on March 14, 2016

Read the blog post