DESCRIPTION: Fine medium-format satirical poster of Los Angeles titled LA Shake and Bake, created in 1992 by illustrator John Holladay. Very rare, with no institutional holdings found in WorldCat and no recorded sales of the poster on the Internet.
The artwork presents a dramatic cartoon vision of the city shattered by a massive quake, with hills cleaving open, and whole neighborhoods transformed into islands in a rising blue sea. Holladay fills the sheet with humorous detail, from boats navigating through canyon walls to crowds celebrating on newly formed shorelines. The Hollywood Hills, downtown high rises, and coastal districts are all reimagined as fragments of a fractured landscape, creating a lively blend of regional caricature and disaster fantasy that reflects long standing popular myths about California earthquakes.
Issued by Holladay Prints independent of the moderately rare F. X. Schmid puzzle edition (in stock 12/25), this poster allows the viewer to appreciate the full composition without the grid of puzzle cuts. The image captures the playful anxiety of early 1990s Los Angeles culture, shaped by real seismic events like the 1992 Landers sequence and by public misconceptions that California might one day fall into the Pacific. With its bright palette, dense pen work, and packed narrative scenes, LA Shake and Bake stands as a memorable example of late twentieth century pictorial satire devoted to one of America’s most iconic urban landscapes.
John Holladay
John Holladay, an artist hailing from the Quad Cities region of Iowa and Illinois, discovered his talent for entertaining others through his cartoons at a young age. After attending Marycrest College in Davenport, Holladay began painting watercolors and exhibiting his work throughout the Midwest. A pivotal moment in his career occurred when he incorporated Mickey Mouse into one of his landscape paintings, garnering both positive and negative attention from show-goers.
In 1975, Holladay's sports-themed cartoons, particularly his depiction of the Nebraska Cornhuskers celebrating in Lincoln's Memorial Stadium, skyrocketed in popularity. He formed Holladay Prints in Davenport in 1976, and his artwork began to sell locally before rapidly expanding throughout the Midwest. Over the next two decades, Holladay created posters for over 40 colleges and universities, as well as professional teams in the NFL and NBA, selling over five million posters in total. In 2000, seeking a change in his artistic direction, Holladay moved to Cape Cod, where he now focuses on landscapes and continues to work in various media, including watercolors, oils, and acrylics.
PUBLICATION DATE: 1992
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: United States
BODY OF WATER: Pacific Ocean
CONDITION: Excellent.
No issues. Wide marfgins.
COLORING: Process color.
ENGRAVER:
SIZE: 15
" x
22 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 89
PRICE: $800
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