Review of 'Images of the Pacific Rim: Australia and California, 1850-1935', by Erika Esau, Sydney, Power Publications, 2010, 368 pp., AUD$59.95 (paperback), ISBN 9780909952396

Abstract

'Images of the Pacific Rim' contributes to an emerging consciousness of the historic cultural intersections between Australia and the United States. The work strikes me as the pièce de rèsistance of art historian Erica Esau and her long-standing immersion in the aesthetic waters shared by both places. A native Californian who has taught Australian art history in Australia, Esau outlines the transmission of popular cultural images that occurred between these two frontier societies during a critical period (1850-1935) of identity-formation for each.