Titled simply CALIFORNIA in a proud decorative cartouche, Jacques Liozu’s California small state map (1946) offers a spirited bird’s-eye view of the Golden State at mid-century. It fuses cartographic fidelity with lively pictorial storytelling, transforming counties and coastlines into a stage where industry, leisure, and landscape perform in concert. Across the sheet, playful vignettes spotlight the daily life of postwar California—fields tilled, grapes harvested, anglers casting, and surfers poised on curling Pacific swells—while the underlying geography remains clear and coherent. The result is both decorative and deeply informative: a map that can be read for orientation as readily as it can be admired for its charm. Liozu’s design invites lingering, rewarding the eye with detail and the mind with context.

Liozu was celebrated for elevating pictorial cartography into a portrait of culture, a reputation reinforced here by his characteristic blend of clarity, wit, and warmth. Hand-drawn typography threads through the composition, harmonizing with ornamental borders that frame the narrative. A finely rendered compass rose sets a tone of maritime romance and navigational purpose, balancing whimsy with an explorer’s discipline. Though exuberant with imagery, the map is judiciously structured: spatial hierarchies are legible, county outlines are respected, and urban nodes punctuate the landscape like visual cadences. The perspective suggests a gentle lift from the Pacific across valleys and mountain chains, creating depth without sacrificing readability—an artful synthesis that typifies Liozu’s postwar work.

Agriculture takes a starring role, as befits California’s postwar ascendancy. Vivid scenes of fruit orchards and grape cultivation unfurl across the Central Valley and coastal benches, their abundance conveyed through bustling fields and neatly arrayed trellises. Along the shore, recreational vignettes—surfing, fishing, and seaside leisure—speak to the state’s growing identity as a playground of sun and surf. Interspersed are emblematic nods to state parks and monuments, where protected landscapes anchor the narrative with a sense of permanence and stewardship. Wildlife appears as a graceful accompaniment, animating hills and shorelines and underscoring the state’s ecological variety. The effect is a living atlas: an economy and an environment drawn together with a graphic lightness that never loses sight of place.

Major cities and counties are crisply delineated, providing a geographic scaffold for the pictorial scenes. Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco read as urban keystones, while Sacramento, Fresno, Oakland, Long Beach, and Bakersfield articulate the state’s inland and coastal rhythms. Stockton, Santa Clara, Riverside, San Bernardino, Pasadena, and Santa Barbara appear as lively nodes, each embedded among the industries and pastimes that sustain them. Mountain arcs and river courses are suggested with confident linework, guiding the eye from the Sierra foothills through fertile valleys to the edge of the Pacific. This careful mapping ensures that the imagery enhances rather than overwhelms orientation, allowing viewers to trace journeys and relationships with intuitive ease.

Created just after World War II, the map captures a state poised for explosive growth, eager to define itself through enterprise, outdoor life, and scenic pride. Liozu distills that optimism into a visual language that is both precise and buoyant: a testament to how maps can persuade as well as inform. The decorative cartouche, the spirited compass rose, and the hand-lettered names together create an atmosphere of crafted excellence, conveying authority without austerity. For collectors, the piece embodies the golden era of mid-20th-century pictorial cartography—when regional identity and graphic ingenuity met on the printed page. It stands as a vibrant snapshot of California’s self-image: industrious, playful, abundant, and irresistibly open to the horizon.

Cities and towns on this map

• Los Angeles
• San Diego
• San Francisco
• Fresno
• Sacramento
• Santa Clara
• Bakersfield
• Long Beach
• Oakland
• Stockton
• San Bernardino
• Riverside
• Santa Barbara
• Pasadena

Notable Features & Landmarks

• Vivid illustrations of agricultural scenes, such as fruit and grape cultivation.
• Iconic landmarks depicted, including state parks and monuments.
• Decorative cartouche featuring the title "CALIFORNIA" alongside illustrative elements.
• A compass rose symbolizing navigational directions.
• Artistic depictions of wildlife and recreational activities, such as surfing and fishing.
• Ornamental borders and hand-drawn typography throughout.

Historical and design context

• Created in 1946, just after World War II.
• Reflects California’s regional identity post-World War II, a time of growth and cultural development.
• Mid-20th-century pictorial style characterized by whimsical illustrations.
• Jacques Liozu’s distinctive approach blends cartographic detail with cultural illustration.
• A charming bird’s-eye view pictorial plan highlighting local industries, farm crops, pastimes, and notable landmarks.
• Playful vignettes depict local industries, recreational activities, and notable landmarks, making the map both decorative and informative.

Please double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.

This map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 70in (180cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.

The fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.

If you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the best old maps to see if something else catches your eye.

Please contact me to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.

This would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.

This map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.