DESCRIPTION: An original 1971 exhibition poster “California Is Not an Island,” produced for a special show at the Oakland Museum (Cowell Hall of California History), held May 30 to August 1, 1971. Designed in a bold nineteenth century broadside style with heavy slab-serif lettering in red and black, the sheet advertises an exhibition centered on early documentary materials relating to California’s exploration, overland migration, and Gold Rush-era development.
At the top is a halftone reproduction of a later embellished edition of Nicolas de Fer's map of California "La Californie ou Nouvelle Caroline", preserving the insular outline and early eighteenth century geographical nomenclature. The reference to Father Eusebio Kino acknowledges the Jesuit explorer whose overland expeditions proved that California was a peninsula, a conclusion directly contradicted by the island form shown here and central to the exhibition’s theme.
The body of the poster lists the exhibit’s scope: overland diaries and accounts, maps and drawings, broadsides and documents, rare books, manuscripts, prints, and lithographs. The emphasis on primary sources underscores the museum’s intent to demonstrate how early travelers, scientists, and explorers recorded the region and how these records shaped the narrative of westward movement and the building of the transcontinental railroad. Only two publicly recorded sales of this poster are known.
Only two sales of this poster are recorded on the Internet.
The Oakland Museum of California opened during 1969, created from the merger of three older institutions devoted to art, history, and natural science. Housed in a landmark terraced concrete complex by architects Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo, it was conceived as a new kind of interdisciplinary museum dedicated to the story of California.
PUBLICATION DATE: 1971
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: United States
BODY OF WATER: N/A
CONDITION: Excellent.
On heavier stock. Matt finish. Rolled, no folds. Two staple hole pairs at top margin.
COLORING: Litho
ENGRAVER:
SIZE: 22
" x
32 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION:
PRICE: $400
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