Jo Mora

Last updated • 8 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Jo Mora
Jo Mora.jpg
Jo Mora
Born
Joseph Jacinto Mora

(1876-10-22)October 22, 1876
Montevideo, Uruguay
DiedOctober 10, 1947(1947-10-10) (aged 70)
Monterey, California
NationalityUruguayan-born American
Known forPainting, drawing, sculpture, muralist
Style Realism
SpouseGrace Needham
Children2
Website Official Website

Joseph Jacinto Mora (October 22, 1876 – October 10, 1947) was a Uruguayan-born American cowboy, photographer, artist, cartoonist, illustrator, painter, muralist, sculptor, and historian who wrote about his experiences in California. He has been called the "Renaissance Man of the West".

Contents

Early life

Mora was born on October 22, 1876, in Montevideo, Uruguay. His father was the Catalan sculptor, Domingo Mora, and his mother was Laura Gaillard Mora, an intellectual born in the Bordeaux region of France. His elder brother was F. Luis Mora, who would become an artist and the first Hispanic member of the National Academy of Design. The family entered the United States in 1880 and first settled in New York City, and then Perth Amboy, New Jersey. [1]

Jo Mora 1931 Yosemite map Jo Mora 1931 Yosemite map.jpg
Jo Mora 1931 Yosemite map

Jo Mora studied art at the Art Students League of New York and the Cowles Art School in Boston. He also studied with William Merritt Chase. He worked as a cartoonist for the Boston Evening Traveller, and later, the Boston Herald. [1]

In 1900 Mora published The Animals of Aesop - Aesop's Fables Adapted and Pictured by Joseph J. Mora (Dana Estes and Co. Boston 1900), profusely illustrated with black/white and some color drawings, foreshadowing Mora's unique and evolving style.

In the spring of 1903, Mora arrived in Solvang, California. He stayed at the Donohue Ranch. He made plans to travel to the Southwest to paint and photograph the Hopi. He spent time at the Mission Santa Inés; those photographs are now maintained by the Smithsonian Institution. Mora visited many Spanish missions in California that summer by horseback. He followed the "Mission Trail", also called the "Kings Highway".

In 1904, Mora visited Yosemite. [2] Later, in 1904, to 1906, visited Arizona [3] where he took photographs, painted [4] and otherwise recorded the daily life of these Native Americans. Because the Hopi and other tribes have voiced their concerns more recently about photographs depicting religious ceremonies, the tribal nation should be contacted before they are used. [3] He learned the Native languages and made detailed drawings of what he observed. [5]

Career

In 1907, Mora wrote and illustrated the comic strip Animaldom. Animaldom Mora 1907-09-15(SFS7-9-3) The Haughty Peacock.jpg
In 1907, Mora wrote and illustrated the comic strip Animaldom.

In 1907, Mora returned to California and married Grace Needham. Their son, Joseph Needham Mora, was born on March 8, 1908. The Moras moved to San Jose, California, where Mora continued his work.

On 22 February 1911, the Native Sons of the Golden West Building, in San Francisco, with six terra cotta panels, by Domingo Mora and his son, Jo Mora, was dedicated. [7] [8]

In 1915, he served on the International Jury of Awards at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition and displayed six sculptures. [9]

In 1915-16 two of his sculptural commissions were revealed: the bronze memorial tablet with the profile of the late Archbishop Patrick W. Riordan for the Knights of Columbus and the Cervantes Monument in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. [10] [11] By 1919, he was sculpting for the Bohemian Club, including the Bret Harte Memorial plaque, completed in August 1919 and mounted on the outside of the private men's club building in San Francisco.

Carmel-by-the-Sea

In 1921, the Mora family relocated to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, the largest art colony on the West Coast, making it their primary residence. He constructed a Craftsman-style home, which is located on the west side of San Carlos Street, the third house south of 1st Avenue. [12] [13]

Mora received a commission for the bronze and travertine Cenotaph, for Father Junípero Serra in the Memorial Chapel at the west end of Mission Carmel. [9] [14] [15] [16]

Mora was a director of the Carmel Art Association as early as 1934. [17] His sculptures were exhibited between 1927 and 1934 in various galleries in Carmel. [18]

Jo Mora is a serious sculptor, a responsible amateur actor; when mixed up with pen and ink, a humorist! Comic strips was once his trade. He was famous at it. That was years ago but his art of cartooning bloomed again when in recent years he produced the well known Mora Map of the Monterey Peninsula. Most successful with bronze statue creations which decorate many gardens in East and West. If he has a specialty in figures it is cowboys. He knows his West. Jo Mora will ever be famed for his portrayal of Pancho Lopez, The Bad Man, at Carmel Playhouse. He does everything well and is handsome while doing it. He is happily married-alas!

—  Carmel Pine Cone [19]

During the Great Depression, Mora created the "Carmel Dollar" as part of Carmel's program, offering unemployed residents scrip for public service, exchangeable for groceries and essentials; a three-cent stamp on the certificate's back acknowledged their efforts. When full, merchants accepted the certified scrip for goods or a dollar. [20] [21]

Architect Robert Stanton collaborated closely with Mora on multiple projects. In 1937, Stanton was the architect for the Monterey County Courthouse, which incorporated Mora's bas-relief panels, column caps, and figurative heads on both the building's exterior and its interior courtyard. [22]

Statue of Junipero Serra in Carmel Woods. Statue of Junipero Serra (Carmel Woods).jpg
Statue of Junipero Serra in Carmel Woods.

On July 22, 1922, for the opening day of the Carmel Woods subdivision, Mora had carved and painted a wooded statue of Padre Junípero Serra, which was installed within a small wooden shrine, surrounded by plants and a pair of wooden benches at the entrance to the development, at the intersection of Camino del Monte and Alta Avenue. [23] [24]

In 1925, he designed the commemorative half dollar for the California Diamond Jubilee. During this period he also illustrated a number of books, made large murals, and published charts, maps (cartes) and diagrams of the West and Western themes. Beginning in 1937, Mora wrote and illustrated children's books about the West. In 1939, a Works Progress Administration project was completed, with Mora bas-relief sculpture adorning the King City High School Auditorium building.

Pebble Beach

In 1931 Jo, his wife, and daughter Patricia moved to nearby Pebble Beach into a newly built home. Five years later in the adjoining large studios he completed his massive diorama, Discovery of the San Francisco Bay by Portola, for the California Pavilion at the 1939-40 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island. At a length of almost 100 feet, with 64 sculptures of Spaniards and Indians and over 200 animals, it was said "to surpass anything of its kind at the Fair." [25] [26] He fashioned smaller dioramas for the Will Rogers Memorial Museum in Claremore, Oklahoma, and the Sutter's Fort Museum in Sacramento, California. [27] [28]

In 1928, Mora made the "El Paseo" sculpture in the courtyard of the El Paseo Building on Dolores Street and 7th Avenue in Carmel. It is a terracotta sculpture of a Californio man and a Señorita woman. [29]

In the early 1930s, Mora was commissioned by Earl F. Graft to decorate the Carmel Dairy Building in Carmel. Mora made three large interior dairy murals above a soda fountain (no longer present) and a sculptured a metal lamp in the shape of a cowbell that still hangs above the buildings front door. He showed animal figures dressed as humans, many recognizable as local Carmel residents. He also designed the menus, Christmas cards, and milk bottles, with these animal characterizations, and a cow that served as the logo. The Santa Rosa Republican described Mora's work with an article having the title: "Carmel's Prosaic Dairy is Art." [30] [29]

Between 1908 and the late 1940s his sculptures, illustrations, [31] watercolors and etchings were frequently exhibited across the United States. [9] [32] [33]

Death

Mora died October 10, 1947, in Monterey, California. His last book, Californios, which was devoted to the life of the rancheros of Alta California, was published posthumously. [34] [35] [36]

In music

Coinage

Mora designed the 1925 California Diamond Jubilee half dollar.

Works

Bibliography

Museum Catalogs

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wah Chang</span> American designer (1917–2003)

Wah Ming Chang was an American designer, sculptor, and artist. With the encouragement of his adoptive father, James Blanding Sloan, he began exhibiting his prints and watercolors at the age of seven to highly favorable reviews. Chang worked with Sloan on several theatre productions and in the 1940s, they briefly created their own studio to produce films. He is known later in life for his sculpture and the props he designed for Star Trek: The Original Series, including the tricorder and communicator.

Percy Gray was an American painter. At the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition he won a bronze medal for his watercolor Out of the Desert, Oregon. Gray's artwork is held in the permanent online collections of several museums, including the Monterey Museum of Art.

Armin Carl Hansen (1886–1957) was an American prominent painter of the en plein air school, and a native of San Francisco, best known for his marine canvases. His father Herman Wendelborg Hansen was also an artist of the American West. Armin Hansen studied at the California School of Design, and in Europe. He achieved international recognition for his scenes depicting men and the sea off the northern coast of California. He was elected an Associate to the National Academy of Design in 1926 and an Academician in 1948.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest Theater</span> Amphitheater in California, U.S.

The Forest Theater is an outdoor amphitheater in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Founded in 1910, it is one of the oldest outdoor theaters west of the Rocky Mountains. The performer and director Herbert Heron and author Mary Austin were founding forces. The facility also includes a smaller indoor theatre and a school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guy Rose</span> American painter (1867–1925)

Guy Orlando Rose was an American Impressionist painter and California resident, who received national recognition in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Frederic Ritschel</span> Impressionist artist (1864–1949)

William Frederic Ritschel, also known as Wilhelm Frederick Ritschel, was a California impressionist painter who was born in Nurenberg, Kingdom of Bavaria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Stanton (architect)</span> American architect

Robert Stanton (1900-1983) was an American architect. A resident of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, he practiced primarily in the central California coastal region, and was responsible for a variety of eclectic buildings, most notably the Monterey County Court House and the King City Joint Union High School Auditorium, both listed on the National Register of Historic Places. He worked closely with sculptor Joseph Jacinto Mora on several of his projects.

The Society of Six was a group of artists who painted outdoors, socialized, and exhibited together in and around Oakland, California in the 1910s and 1920s. They included Selden Connor Gile, August Gay, Maurice Logan, Louis Siegriest, Bernard von Eichman, and William H. Clapp. They were somewhat isolated from the artistic mainstream of the San Francisco Bay Area at the time, and painted in more avant-garde styles than most of their peers, especially after being inspired by modern trends represented in the Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M. Evelyn McCormick</span> American painter (1862–1948)

Mary Evelyn McCormick was an American painter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary DeNeale Morgan</span> American painter

Mary DeNeale Morgan also known as M. DeNeale Morgan, was an American plein air painter, especially in watercolor, and printmaker. She was the director the Carmel Summer School of Art sponsored by the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club and a founding member of the Carmel Art Association (CAA) in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmel Art Association</span> Carmel Art Association, Carmel art gallery

The Carmel Art Association (CAA) is a Not-for-profit arts organization and gallery located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. The CAA is Carmel's oldest gallery. It features the work of many local artists living on the Monterey Peninsula. Many of its members were early California artists. The CAA is a 501(c)(3) organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Junípero Serra (Carmel-by-the-Sea, California)</span> Statue in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, U.S.

A statue of Junípero Serra, also known as the Serra Shrine, was installed in the community of Carmel Woods in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, United States. Artist Joseph "Jo" Mora (1876-1947), designed and carved the wood statue of Serra for real estate developer Samuel F.B. Morse's new subdivision.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Strong</span>

Elizabeth Strong (1855–1941) was an American artist, known for landscape, animal and figure paintings. She was nicknamed, "the Rosa Bonheur of America".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmel Arts and Crafts Club</span> Early Carmel art club

The Carmel Arts and Crafts Club was an art gallery, theatre and clubhouse founded in 1905, by Elsie Allen, a former art instructor for Wellesley College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perry Newberry</span> American poet and writer (1883-1968)

Perry Harmon Newberry was an American journalist, writer, actor and producer. After working in Chicago and then in journalism in San Francisco, he moved to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California in 1910. There he became involved as an actor and producer at Forest Theater, and in writing, directing and producing large-scale outdoor historical pageants. In 1922 he became the fifth mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, known for his efforts to maintain the rustic atmosphere of Carmel's art colony by resisting infrastructure improvements and to "keep Carmel free from tourists". In 1924 became the editor and co-publisher of the Carmel Pine Cone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John C. Catlin</span> American politician

John Conyngham Catlin was an American lawyer and politician. He practiced law for more than thirty years, in Sacramento, San Francisco, and for a short time in Alaska. He was a former mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California from 1932-1934, and served on the Carmel City Council in 1934.

The following is a timeline of the history of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ira Mallory Remsen</span> American playwright and painter

Ira Mallory Remsen , known locally as Rem Remsen, was an American painter, playwright and Bohemian Club member. He was the son of Dr. Ira Remsen chemist and former president of Johns Hopkins University. Remsen was the author of children's plays notably Inchling and Mr. Blunt, he produced at the Forest Theater in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California in the 1920s. His studio on Dolores Street became the permanent home for the Carmel Art Association in 1933.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura W. Maxwell</span> American painter

Laura W. Maxwell, also known as Laura Maxwell, was an American artist. She painted in oil and watercolor; her subjects included landscape, floral, and marine-themes which were exhibited in various art centers. She helped to establish the Carmel Art Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferdinand Burgdorff</span> American photographer (1881-1975)

Ferdinand Burgdorff,, also known as Ferdy, was an American etcher, painter, and printmaker. He was nationally known for his role as a landscape painter of the Monterey Peninsula, Yosemite, and the desert Southwest. He was one of the earliest artists that came to the art colony in Carmel-by-the-Sea. He was an illustrator for Sunset Magazine. His works can be found in the permanent collections of the Naval Postgraduate School, De Young Museum, Monterey Museum of Art, and the Cleveland Museum of Art.

References

  1. 1 2 Hiller, Peter (2021). The Life and Times of Jo Mora, Iconic Artist of the American West. Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN   978-1-423-65735-4.
  2. ↑ "Who is Jo Mora? – Mariposa Arts Council". www.mariposaartscouncil.org.
  3. 1 2 "The University of Tulsa McFarlin Library". 2007-08-22. Archived from the original on 2007-08-22. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  4. ↑ "Lot - Joseph Jacinto Mora (1876-1947 Monterey, CA)". www.johnmoran.com.
  5. ↑ Pecina, Ron and Pecina, Bob. Neil David's Hopi World. Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2011. ISBN   978-0-7643-3808-3; pp.8,9,54,55.
  6. ↑ "Selected Newspaper Cartoon Artists, 1898-1909" . Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  7. ↑ "Native Sons of the Golden West". www.artandarchitecture-sf.com.
  8. ↑ "History of the NSGW Building". nsgw.org.
  9. 1 2 3 Edwards, Robert W. (2012). Jennie V. Cannon: The Untold History of the Carmel and Berkeley Art Colonies, Vol. 1. Oakland, Calif.: East Bay Heritage Project. pp. 191, 265, 522–525, 690. ISBN   978-1-4675-4567-9. An online facsimile of the entire text of Vol. 1 is posted on the Traditional Fine Arts Organization website ( "Jennie V. Cannon: The Untold History of the Carmel and Berkeley Art Colonies, vol. One, East Bay Heritage Project, Oakland, 2012; by Robert W. Edwards". Archived from the original on 2016-04-29. Retrieved 2016-06-07.).
  10. ↑ The Oakland Tribune, 5 September 1915, p. 19.
  11. ↑ The Wasp (San Francisco, CA), 9 September 1916, p. 11.
  12. ↑ "Homes of Famous Carmelites" (PDF). ci.carmel.ca.us. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. 1992. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
  13. ↑ Dramov, Alissandra; Momboisse, Lynn A. (2016). Historic Homes And Inns Of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California: Arcadia Publishing. p. 19. ISBN   978-1-4671-0303-9 . Retrieved 2023-04-02.
  14. ↑ "About - The Official Jo Mora". jomoratrust.com.
  15. ↑ "Komanecky, Michael K.: Jo Mora and the Missions of California, in: Anales del Instituto de Investigaciones Esteticas, Vol. 91, 2007, 207- 217" (PDF).
  16. ↑ "Mora Chapel". 2008-10-24. Archived from the original on 2008-10-24. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  17. ↑ "Art Group Files Corporation Papers". The San Bernardino County Sun. 17 Jan 1934. p. 13. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  18. ↑ Minturn James, Eleanor (7 August 1931). "North Lights". Carmel Pine Cone. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
  19. ↑ "Who's Who-and Here". Carmel Pine Cone. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. 1928-12-14. pp. 9–15. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  20. ↑ Richard Flower (2014). "Carmel In The Great Depression". Stories of Old Carmel: A Centennial Tribute From The Carmel Residents Association. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California: Carmel Residents Association. pp. 152–153.
  21. ↑ Jerry Gervase (April 18, 2014). "Carmel Dollars, a local way to ease the hardships of the Great Depression" (PDF). The Carmel Pine Cone. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-07-06. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
  22. ↑ "Robert Stanton". The Living New Deal. May 24, 2019. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  23. ↑ "Carmel Woods Sale July 22". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. 15 Jul 1922. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-01-04– via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "Carmel Woods takes shape and sell well, Serra honored with statue" (PDF). The Carmel Pine Cone. 2019-09-20. p. 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-12-19. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  25. ↑ The Oakland Tribune, 13 October 1938, p. 4; 25 June 1939, p.B-7.
  26. ↑ Carmel Pine Cone, 21 October 1938, p.10.
  27. ↑ The Carmel Cymbal, 27 September 1940, p. 6.
  28. ↑ The Oakland Tribune, 24 August 1946, p. 1-C.
  29. 1 2 Kent L. Seavey (January 20, 2002). "Department Of Parks And Recreation" (PDF). National Park Service . Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  30. ↑ "Carmel's Prosaic Dairy is Art". Santa Rosa Republican. Santa Rosa, California. 9 Oct 1933. p. 3. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  31. ↑ "Collection of Nine 9 Hotel del Monte Menus by Joseph Jacinto Jo. MORA on Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts". Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts.
  32. ↑ "Joseph Jacinto Mora".
  33. ↑ "Joseph Jacinto Mora | 77 Artworks | MutualArt". www.mutualart.com.
  34. ↑ New York Times: 20 June 1949, p. 17; 26 June 1949, p.BR-10.
  35. ↑ Los Angeles Times, 10 July 1949, p. 4-5.
  36. ↑ "No Title". 2022-09-01. Archived from the original on 2022-09-01. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  37. ↑ Tarquinio, Holly (15 September 2016). "The Evolution of the Cowboy – 1933 Jo Mora". Quarter Horse News. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  38. ↑ Mora, Jo. ""Evolution of the Cowboy": Levi's Round-Up of Cowboy Lore". rare maps.
  39. ↑ Lane, Baron (August 29, 2018). "5 Things You May Not Know About The Byrds' 'Sweetheart of the Rodeo'". Twang Nation. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  40. ↑ A, Great Basin; E (2012-04-21). "Mike Beck". Music at the Martin. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  41. ↑ "Monterey County's Prolific Artist Unveiled – Carmel Magazine". carmelmagazine.com.
  42. ↑ "Jo Mora Remembered".
  43. ↑ "The Life and Times of Jo Mora". Western Horseman. June 4, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.