Picturing Paradise [first edition]

"If those early Californians had been quiet about what they found, instead of yelling 'Eureka' we (Californians) might be as thinly populated as Idaho. But heaven-on-earth cum marketing has cuased such a westward tilt that a tenth of all Americans live in California....the paradise that is the subject of two complementary exhibitions at the San Diego Museum of Art is part of the California that existed between 1875 and 1940. It is how San Diegans saw themselves and how they presented themselves to the world...Today's San Diegans should find delight in visiting the paradise that used to be - one more ethereal, more pastoral - shown in Picturing Paradise." - Bob Witty, San Diego Historical SocietyArt from 1875 until 1940 that marketed a vision of California to the east is discussed and exhibited on 49 color plates.