F. Luis Mora
Encyclopedia
F. Luis Mora, also known as Francis Luis Mora (July 27, 1874 - June 5, 1940), was an Hispanic American
figural painter. Mora worked in watercolor, oils and tempera. He produced drawings in pen and ink, and graphite; and etchings and monotypes. He is known for his paintings and drawings depicting American life in the early 20th century; Spanish life and society; historical and allegorical subjects; with murals, easel painting and illustrations. He also was a popular art instructor.
, Uruguay
, to Domingo Mora, a noted sculptor from Catalonia
, and Laura Gaillard, a cultured French woman originally from the Bordeaux
region of France
. Laura Gaillard Mora had two sisters, Ernestina and Gabriella, who married into the Bacardi
family, famous for its rum. Mora was close to the Bacardi family all of his life. He had a younger brother, Joseph Jacinto "Jo" Mora
, who would go on to become a noted sculptor, photographer and author in California
.
The Moras left Uruguay during an insurgency in 1877, when they went to Catalonia. In 1880, they arrived in New York City
, and quickly relocated to Perth Amboy, New Jersey
, where Domingo Mora accepted a position with the A.H. White Terra Cotta Company, which was renamed The Perth Amboy Terra Cotta Company. The family would later relocate to Allston, Massachusetts (near Boston
), where Domingo Mora had sculpture commissions. Mora graduated from Allston High School, and stated in a later interview that he remembered the school fondly. During the Economic Crash of 1893, they all went back to Perth Amboy, New Jersey, which remained Mora's home base all of his life.
While he was a child, Mora's father oversaw his early education in the arts, and young Luis produced hundreds of drawings and watercolors. He was a precocious young artist, drawing historical scenes and scenes of his contemporary environs. At the age of fifteen Mora enrolled in the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
, where he studied under the American Impressionists Edmund Charles Tarbell and Frank Weston Benson
. In 1892, Mora went on to complete his education at the Art Students League of New York
, studying with Henry Siddons Mowbray
. By 1892, he was also receiving commissions for illustrations in popular magazines of the era. His formal art education was complete in 1893, when he was just 19 years old.
In 1896 when he was 22 years old, Mora traveled to Europe with his mother, his third trip to Europe. The two visited family in Barcelona
and then headed to Madrid
, where Mora coincidentally saw William Merritt Chase
in the Museo del Prado
. It was there, alongside Chase, that Mora became inspired by the art of Diego Velázquez
and other Spanish Old Masters. Over the course of many visits to the Prado, Mora practiced and refined his technique by painting copies of Velasquez's works.
In 1900, Mora married the daughter of the mayor of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Sophia ("Sonia") Brown Compton, who was his childhood sweetheart. She encouraged his easel painting, and he set forth on a successful career.
, and was elected a full member in 1906, probably its first Hispanic member. He was also voted as a member to 15 other art societies. Mora won numerous medals and awards within the New York artistic community, including the Rothschild Prize, the Carnegie Prize, the Shaw Purchase Prize at the Salmagundi Club
; and in 1915 he won a gold medal at the Panama Pacific International Exhibition in San Francisco.
Mora taught illustration and life classes at both William Merritt Chase's
Chase School of Art (renamed the New York School of Art in 1898, later to become Parsons
) and the Art Students League. Among his students was Georgia O'Keeffe
, who studied with him between 1907 and 1908. During this time Mora also embarked upon a successful and prolific career as an illustrator, producing work for several books and publications, including Harper's Weekly
, Scribner's
, The Century
, Collier's
, Sunday Magazine, and Ladies' Home Journal
. Additionally, during World War I
Mora was one of several illustrators who volunteered to create motivational World War I posters for the Third and Fourth Liberty Loan Boards, U.S. Committee on Public Information
.
In addition to his success as an easel painter and illustrator, Mora became a well known muralist. His first mural, in 1900, was a commission for the Lynn Public Library
in Lynn, Massachusetts
. Following that, Mora received a commission for the Missouri State Building at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
(also known as the St. Louis World's Fair)in 1904. He continued to receive commissions, including murals for Columbia College, the Governor's Mansion of New Jersey, the Red Cross, The Town Club and Bar in Manhattan, the 1939 New York World's Fair
, and in the Sears family (Sears & Roebuck) country home in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Mora was also a successful portraitist who counted Andrew Carnegie
among his subjects. After at least one attempt by another artist, Mora was selected by the Fine Arts Commission to paint a posthumous portrait of President Warren G. Harding
. That portrait remains on permanent display in the White House. He painted portraits of Society matrons and their children, prominent physicians and attorneys; and around 1915 he painted a series of portraits of actresses and dancers, including Isadora Duncan
.
Mora would return to Spain frequently throughout his career, and he had at least two extended stays when he painted. During 1905, he rented a studio in Madrid from which to work, and in 1909 he and Sonia spent an entire year abroad when he took a studio in Seville
.
He and Sonia bought land in Gaylordsville, Connecticut in 1913, where he painted an array of easel paintings of everyday life in the countryside. On July 22, 1918, Mora's daughter, Rosemary, was born. She became his constant subject, and in 1921 he had a solo exhibition at the venerable William Macbeth Gallery, entitled "An American Summer," with many watercolors picturing toddler Rosemary. In 1923, he completed his summer home and studio; and in 1924, Mora was a co-founder of the Kent Art Association in Connecticut. In 1927, Mora had a solo exhibition at the Buenos Aires
Museo de Bellas Artes (Argentina
), which received glowing reviews in The New York Times.
In 1931, Mora's beloved wife, Sonia, died suddenly of food poisoning. A few months later, he took Rosemary out of school and went to live with his brother, Jo Mora, on the Monterey Peninsula. He soon returned to New York in 1932 to marry a former portrait sitter and wealthy widow, May Safford. Mora was 58 years old, and May was 53 and had a grown daughter who was already married. Although he continued to exhibit, he won no further medals and few, if any, of his easel paintings were selling. Because of the Great Depression, he also suffered a dearth of portrait commissions, and his illustrations became few. Sadly, May did not get along with Rosemary; and Mora sent Rosemary to expensive boarding schools, further compromising his financial situation. Mora gradually ran out of money, and in 1939 he rented his beloved Gaylordsville property to strangers.
Mora died on June 5, 1940, in May's elegant apartment in New York. He was 64, just six weeks before his 65th birthday.
, a portion of his oeuvre has been interpreted as an attempt to understand modern Spain and Spanish-U.S. relations in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War
. He also produced a series of nudes, many with Spanish shawls as backdrops. He painted a portrait of his only daughter, Rosemary, "In Costume" in 1925, showing her as a little Senorita pushing a doll carriage.
Mora also produced a large series of Impressionist paintings with American subjects. Many pictured life in the Connecticut and New Jersey countryside, and picnic scenes. He loved children, and some of his most notable and published scenes pictured happy youngsters at play. He was also interested in music and theater, and painted scenes with American actresses and dancers. He was elected to fifteen art societies where he won many medals and awards.
He had numerous solo shows in museums and in galleries. He exihibited across the United States, in New York City and State, Indiana, California, Georgia, and others. His galleryist patrons were William Macbeth, Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Milch, all known for showing the best American artists of the era. Mora participated in group shows in dozens of art societies, museums and galleries. He was famous in his lifetime, but was quickly forgotten because his works were poorly handled after his death.
Only recently, with the publication of his comprehensive biography by Lynne Pauls Baron, edited by Peter Hastings Falk, has Mora's memory and works experienced accolades that he deserves. On September 20, 2008, Bacardi U.S.A., Inc. sponsored a gala celebration and lectures in Mora's honor at New York's National Art Club on Gramercy Park
.
in New York (eight works) and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Mora's works are also held by The Butler Museum of Art in Ohio, The Newark Museum, The Telfair Museum in Savannah, The New York Historical Society, The Museum of the City of New York, Yale University Art Gallery, The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, National Arts Club in New York. Phoenix Art Museum, The National Academy of Design in New York, and many others.
After Sophia died, in 1932 Mora married May Safford. May was 53 at the time, and there were no children from the marriage. Mora does not have any grandchildren or great-grandchildren.
Mora was closely related to the Bacardi family, famous for its rum. His mother was a Gaillard with two sisters who married into the Bacardi family which had many children. Mora's uncle Facundo Bacardi (married to Ernestina Gaillard) was the company's "master blender" who made rum a light, pleasant-tasting spirit.
Luis Mora's father, Domingo Mora, was Catalonian with a large family in Spain. It is not known whether any Mora family members are still living in Spain.
Mora's only known living descendants are a great-niece in California, a nephew in California, a niece in New Jersey who has vivid memories of him; and many cousins in the Bacardi-Gaillard family who are directly related.
Mora's family relationships are noted in his comprehensive biography,F. Luis Mora: America's First Hispanic Master by Lynne Pauls Baron, pages 315 to 317.
Hispanic and Latino Americans
Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...
figural painter. Mora worked in watercolor, oils and tempera. He produced drawings in pen and ink, and graphite; and etchings and monotypes. He is known for his paintings and drawings depicting American life in the early 20th century; Spanish life and society; historical and allegorical subjects; with murals, easel painting and illustrations. He also was a popular art instructor.
Early Years and Education
F. Luis Mora was born in MontevideoMontevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, to Domingo Mora, a noted sculptor from Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, and Laura Gaillard, a cultured French woman originally from the Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
region of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Laura Gaillard Mora had two sisters, Ernestina and Gabriella, who married into the Bacardi
Bacardi
Bacardi is a family-controlled spirits company, best known as a producer of rums, including Bacardi Superior and Bacardi 151. The company sells in excess of 200 million bottles per year in nearly 100 countries...
family, famous for its rum. Mora was close to the Bacardi family all of his life. He had a younger brother, Joseph Jacinto "Jo" Mora
Jo Mora
Joseph Jacinto "Jo" Mora was an Uruguayan-born American cartoonist, illustrator and cowboy, who lived with the Hopi and wrote extensively about his experiences in California. He was an artist-historian, sculptor, painter, photographer, illustrator, muralist and author...
, who would go on to become a noted sculptor, photographer and author in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
The Moras left Uruguay during an insurgency in 1877, when they went to Catalonia. In 1880, they arrived in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and quickly relocated to Perth Amboy, New Jersey
Perth Amboy, New Jersey
Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The City of Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 50,814. Perth Amboy is known as the "City by the Bay", referring to Raritan Bay.-Name:The Lenape...
, where Domingo Mora accepted a position with the A.H. White Terra Cotta Company, which was renamed The Perth Amboy Terra Cotta Company. The family would later relocate to Allston, Massachusetts (near Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
), where Domingo Mora had sculpture commissions. Mora graduated from Allston High School, and stated in a later interview that he remembered the school fondly. During the Economic Crash of 1893, they all went back to Perth Amboy, New Jersey, which remained Mora's home base all of his life.
While he was a child, Mora's father oversaw his early education in the arts, and young Luis produced hundreds of drawings and watercolors. He was a precocious young artist, drawing historical scenes and scenes of his contemporary environs. At the age of fifteen Mora enrolled in the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is an undergraduate and graduate college located in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the visual arts. It is affiliated with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in partnership with Tufts University...
, where he studied under the American Impressionists Edmund Charles Tarbell and Frank Weston Benson
Frank Weston Benson
Frank Weston Benson, frequently referred to as Frank W. Benson, was an American artist from Salem, Massachusetts known for his Realistic portraits, American Impressionist paintings, watercolors and etchings. He began his career painting portraits of distinguished families and murals for the...
. In 1892, Mora went on to complete his education at the Art Students League of New York
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
, studying with Henry Siddons Mowbray
Henry Siddons Mowbray
Henry Siddons Mowbray was an American artist.-Biography:He was born of English parents at Alexandria, Egypt. His father, George M. Mowbray, was an expert in explosives. Left an orphan, the son was taken to America by an uncle, who settled at North Adams, Massachusetts...
. By 1892, he was also receiving commissions for illustrations in popular magazines of the era. His formal art education was complete in 1893, when he was just 19 years old.
In 1896 when he was 22 years old, Mora traveled to Europe with his mother, his third trip to Europe. The two visited family in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
and then headed to Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, where Mora coincidentally saw William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase was an American painter known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons The New School for Design.- Early life and training :He was born in Williamsburg , Indiana, to the family...
in the Museo del Prado
Museo del Prado
The Museo del Prado is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It features one of the world's finest collections of European art, from the 12th century to the early 19th century, based on the former Spanish Royal Collection, and unquestionably the best single collection of...
. It was there, alongside Chase, that Mora became inspired by the art of Diego Velázquez
Diego Velázquez
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was a Spanish painter who was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period, important as a portrait artist...
and other Spanish Old Masters. Over the course of many visits to the Prado, Mora practiced and refined his technique by painting copies of Velasquez's works.
In 1900, Mora married the daughter of the mayor of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Sophia ("Sonia") Brown Compton, who was his childhood sweetheart. She encouraged his easel painting, and he set forth on a successful career.
Professional career
In 1904 Mora was voted an Associate member of the National Academy of DesignNational Academy of Design
The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
, and was elected a full member in 1906, probably its first Hispanic member. He was also voted as a member to 15 other art societies. Mora won numerous medals and awards within the New York artistic community, including the Rothschild Prize, the Carnegie Prize, the Shaw Purchase Prize at the Salmagundi Club
Salmagundi Club
The Salmagundi Club, also known as the Salmagundi Art Club, was founded in 1871 in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York, in the United States. It currently is located at 47 Fifth Avenue...
; and in 1915 he won a gold medal at the Panama Pacific International Exhibition in San Francisco.
Mora taught illustration and life classes at both William Merritt Chase's
William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase was an American painter known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons The New School for Design.- Early life and training :He was born in Williamsburg , Indiana, to the family...
Chase School of Art (renamed the New York School of Art in 1898, later to become Parsons
Parsons The New School for Design
Parsons The New School For Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is the art and design college of The New School university. It is located in New York City's Greenwich Village, and has produced artists and designers such as Marc Jacobs, Dean and Dan Caten, Norman Rockwell, Donna Karan, Jane...
) and the Art Students League. Among his students was Georgia O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe
Georgia Totto O'Keeffe was an American artist.Born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, O'Keeffe first came to the attention of the New York art community in 1916, several decades before women had gained access to art training in America’s colleges and universities, and before any of its women artists...
, who studied with him between 1907 and 1908. During this time Mora also embarked upon a successful and prolific career as an illustrator, producing work for several books and publications, including Harper's Weekly
Harper's Weekly
Harper's Weekly was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor...
, Scribner's
Scribner's Magazine
Scribner's Magazine was an American periodical published by the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons from January 1887 to May 1939. Scribner's Magazine was the second magazine out of the "Scribner's" firm, after the publication of Scribner's Monthly...
, The Century
The Century Magazine
The Century Magazine was first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City as a successor to Scribner's Monthly Magazine...
, Collier's
Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
, Sunday Magazine, and Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal is an American magazine which first appeared on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States...
. Additionally, during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Mora was one of several illustrators who volunteered to create motivational World War I posters for the Third and Fourth Liberty Loan Boards, U.S. Committee on Public Information
Committee on Public Information
The Committee on Public Information, also known as the CPI or the Creel Committee, was an independent agency of the government of the United States created to influence U.S. public opinion regarding American participation in World War I...
.
In addition to his success as an easel painter and illustrator, Mora became a well known muralist. His first mural, in 1900, was a commission for the Lynn Public Library
Lynn Public Library
Lynn Public Library is a historic library at 5 N. Common Street in Lynn, Massachusetts....
in Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 89,050 at the 2000 census. An old industrial center, Lynn is home to Lynn Beach and Lynn Heritage State Park and is about north of downtown Boston.-17th century:...
. Following that, Mora received a commission for the Missouri State Building at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Louisiana Purchase Exposition
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the Saint Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States in 1904.- Background :...
(also known as the St. Louis World's Fair)in 1904. He continued to receive commissions, including murals for Columbia College, the Governor's Mansion of New Jersey, the Red Cross, The Town Club and Bar in Manhattan, the 1939 New York World's Fair
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair, which covered the of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park , was the second largest American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people...
, and in the Sears family (Sears & Roebuck) country home in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Mora was also a successful portraitist who counted Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
among his subjects. After at least one attempt by another artist, Mora was selected by the Fine Arts Commission to paint a posthumous portrait of President Warren G. Harding
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...
. That portrait remains on permanent display in the White House. He painted portraits of Society matrons and their children, prominent physicians and attorneys; and around 1915 he painted a series of portraits of actresses and dancers, including Isadora Duncan
Isadora Duncan
Isadora Duncan was a dancer, considered by many to be the creator of modern dance. Born in the United States, she lived in Western Europe and the Soviet Union from the age of 22 until her death at age 50. In the United States she was popular only in New York, and only later in her life...
.
Mora would return to Spain frequently throughout his career, and he had at least two extended stays when he painted. During 1905, he rented a studio in Madrid from which to work, and in 1909 he and Sonia spent an entire year abroad when he took a studio in Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
.
He and Sonia bought land in Gaylordsville, Connecticut in 1913, where he painted an array of easel paintings of everyday life in the countryside. On July 22, 1918, Mora's daughter, Rosemary, was born. She became his constant subject, and in 1921 he had a solo exhibition at the venerable William Macbeth Gallery, entitled "An American Summer," with many watercolors picturing toddler Rosemary. In 1923, he completed his summer home and studio; and in 1924, Mora was a co-founder of the Kent Art Association in Connecticut. In 1927, Mora had a solo exhibition at the Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
Museo de Bellas Artes (Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
), which received glowing reviews in The New York Times.
In 1931, Mora's beloved wife, Sonia, died suddenly of food poisoning. A few months later, he took Rosemary out of school and went to live with his brother, Jo Mora, on the Monterey Peninsula. He soon returned to New York in 1932 to marry a former portrait sitter and wealthy widow, May Safford. Mora was 58 years old, and May was 53 and had a grown daughter who was already married. Although he continued to exhibit, he won no further medals and few, if any, of his easel paintings were selling. Because of the Great Depression, he also suffered a dearth of portrait commissions, and his illustrations became few. Sadly, May did not get along with Rosemary; and Mora sent Rosemary to expensive boarding schools, further compromising his financial situation. Mora gradually ran out of money, and in 1939 he rented his beloved Gaylordsville property to strangers.
Mora died on June 5, 1940, in May's elegant apartment in New York. He was 64, just six weeks before his 65th birthday.
Artistic Significance
Mora is known for his attempts to translate the techniques of the Spanish Old Masters to a modern American idiom. Since Mora's initial travels in Spain coincided with the emergence of the Generation of '98Generation of '98
The Generation of '98 was a group of novelists, poets, essayists, and philosophers active in Spain at the time of the Spanish-American War ....
, a portion of his oeuvre has been interpreted as an attempt to understand modern Spain and Spanish-U.S. relations in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
. He also produced a series of nudes, many with Spanish shawls as backdrops. He painted a portrait of his only daughter, Rosemary, "In Costume" in 1925, showing her as a little Senorita pushing a doll carriage.
Mora also produced a large series of Impressionist paintings with American subjects. Many pictured life in the Connecticut and New Jersey countryside, and picnic scenes. He loved children, and some of his most notable and published scenes pictured happy youngsters at play. He was also interested in music and theater, and painted scenes with American actresses and dancers. He was elected to fifteen art societies where he won many medals and awards.
He had numerous solo shows in museums and in galleries. He exihibited across the United States, in New York City and State, Indiana, California, Georgia, and others. His galleryist patrons were William Macbeth, Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Milch, all known for showing the best American artists of the era. Mora participated in group shows in dozens of art societies, museums and galleries. He was famous in his lifetime, but was quickly forgotten because his works were poorly handled after his death.
Only recently, with the publication of his comprehensive biography by Lynne Pauls Baron, edited by Peter Hastings Falk, has Mora's memory and works experienced accolades that he deserves. On September 20, 2008, Bacardi U.S.A., Inc. sponsored a gala celebration and lectures in Mora's honor at New York's National Art Club on Gramercy Park
Gramercy Park
Gramercy Park is a small, fenced-in private park in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park is at the core of both the neighborhood referred to as either Gramercy or Gramercy Park and the Gramercy Park Historic District...
.
Legacy
Mora's works are currently held or on display in 34 museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in New York (eight works) and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Mora's works are also held by The Butler Museum of Art in Ohio, The Newark Museum, The Telfair Museum in Savannah, The New York Historical Society, The Museum of the City of New York, Yale University Art Gallery, The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, National Arts Club in New York. Phoenix Art Museum, The National Academy of Design in New York, and many others.
Family Relationships
F. Luis Mora was married for 31 years to Sophia ("Sonia") Brown Compton Mora. They had one daughter, Rosemary, who never married and never had children; and therefore Mora's direct lineage ended with her.After Sophia died, in 1932 Mora married May Safford. May was 53 at the time, and there were no children from the marriage. Mora does not have any grandchildren or great-grandchildren.
Mora was closely related to the Bacardi family, famous for its rum. His mother was a Gaillard with two sisters who married into the Bacardi family which had many children. Mora's uncle Facundo Bacardi (married to Ernestina Gaillard) was the company's "master blender" who made rum a light, pleasant-tasting spirit.
Luis Mora's father, Domingo Mora, was Catalonian with a large family in Spain. It is not known whether any Mora family members are still living in Spain.
Mora's only known living descendants are a great-niece in California, a nephew in California, a niece in New Jersey who has vivid memories of him; and many cousins in the Bacardi-Gaillard family who are directly related.
Mora's family relationships are noted in his comprehensive biography,F. Luis Mora: America's First Hispanic Master by Lynne Pauls Baron, pages 315 to 317.
Sources
- Baron, Lynne Pauls. F. Luis Mora: America's First Hispanic Master [1874 - 1940]. Madison, CT; Falk Art Reference, 2008.
- Boone, Mary Elizabeth. Vistas De España: American Views of Art and Life in Spain, 1860-1914. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007.
- Dearinger, David B. Painting and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of Design. New York; Manchester: Hudson Hills Press, 2004.
- "Harding Hung." Time 28 Jul. 1930: n. pag. Retrieved 2 Dec. 2008.
External links
- Educational Website devoted to F. Luis Mora
- Biography of F. Luis Mora: America's First Hispanic Master [1874-1940 by Lynne Pauls Baron, Falk Art Reference, 2008]
- Short bio on F. Luis Mora
- F. Luis Mora in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- F. Luis Mora photographs, papers, and notebooks in the Smithsonian Archives of American Art
- Francis Luis Mora artwork can be viewed at American Art Archives web site