Francisco Mora (May 7, 1922 – February 22, 2002) was a Mexican artist of the "Mexican School" of mural painters.

Training and career

He was born in

Uruapan Uruapan is the second largest city in the Mexican state of Michoacán. It is located at the western edge of the Purépecha highlands, just to the east of the Tierra Caliente region. Since the colonial period, it has been an important city economic ...

, Michoacán). His father was a weaver, musician, and artist. In 1941, Mora relocated to

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

where he won a scholarship to study at the art school, La Esmeralda, where he was a pupil of

Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...

. Later in the same year, he began exhibiting with the

Taller de Gráfica Popular The ''Taller de Gráfica Popular'' (Spanish: "People's Graphic Workshop") is an artist's print collective founded in Mexico in 1937 by artists Leopoldo Méndez, Pablo O'Higgins, and Luis Arenal. The collective was primarily concerned with using ...

, a communal graphics workshop founded by artists Leopoldo Méndez,

Pablo O'Higgins Pablo Esteban O'Higgins (born Paul Higgins Stevenson; March 1, 1904 - July 16, 1983) was an American-Mexican artist, muralist and illustrator. Early life and education Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, O'Higgins was raised there and in San Diego, C ...

and Luis Arenal that built on Mexico's rich tradition of political printmaking in order to advance revolutionary political and social causes. Mora remained a member of the TGP collective until 1965. During this time, his artistic focus was on social justice; making posters for trade unions and government literacy campaigns. Mora was a member of the "Mexican School" of mural artists. Other artists involved included

Carlos Mérida Carlos Mérida (December 2, 1891 – December 21, 1985) was a Guatemalan artist who was one of the first to fuse European modern painting to Latin American themes, especially those related to Guatemala and Mexico. He was part of the Mexican mura ...

Francisco Zúñiga José Jesús Francisco Zúñiga Chavarría (December 27, 1912 – August 9, 1998) was a Costa Rican-born Mexico, Mexican artist, known both for his painting and his sculpture. Journalist Fernando González Gortázar lists Zúñiga as one of the ...

and Elizabeth Catlett Mora. In the 1950s and 1960s, Mora exhibited his paintings and lithographs in Mexico and abroad.

Exhibitions and collections

In 1991, the Mississippi Museum of Art organized the traveling exhibition ''A Courtyard Apart: The Art of Elizabeth Catlett and Francisco Mora'', which included his paintings ''Familia Campesina'' (1966), ''Flight'' (1974), and ''The Lady'' (1980). Mora's art is in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Art collection, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Memberships and awards

Mora was a founding member of the

Salón de la Plástica Mexicana Salón de la Plástica Mexicana (Hall of Mexican Fine Art; ''SPM'') is an institution dedicated to the promotion of Mexican contemporary art. It was established in 1949 to expand the Mexican art market. Its first location was in historic center o ...

(Salon for Mexican Visual Arts). He received a medal in 1965 from the Academia Mexicana de la Educación (Mexican Education Academy).

Family life

In 1947, Mora married renowned African-American artist

Elizabeth Catlett Elizabeth Catlett, born as Alice Elizabeth Catlett, also known as Elizabeth Catlett Mora (April 15, 1915 – April 2, 2012) was an African American sculptor and graphic artist best known for her depictions of the Black-American experience in the ...

, who had moved to Mexico in 1946 and was also working at the

. Their children included eldest son Francisco Mora Catlett, an accomplished jazz drummer;

Juan Mora Catlett Juan Mora Catlett is a Mexican film and documentary director. He is known for making films focused on artist and the pre-Hispanic peoples of Mexico. Personal life Mora Catlett grew up in an artistic family; his father Francisco Mora was a Mexic ...

, a filmmaker who created the 1998 documentary about his parents titled ''Betty y Poncho''; and youngest child, David Mora Catlett, also an artist. Grandchildren include singer Ife Sanchez Mora, photographer Nia Mora, and fashion model and season 4

America's Next Top Model ''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...

winner Naima Mora. Francisco Mora died in 2002.

References

External links

* Listings for over 300 works produced by Francisco Mora during his time at the Taller de Gráfica Popular can be viewed a
Gráfica Mexciana

Works by Francisco Mora at Davidson Galleries
Mexican printmakers 1922 births 2002 deaths Artists from Michoacán People from Uruapan 20th-century Mexican painters Mexican male painters 20th-century Mexican male artists {{mexico-painter-stub