Joseph Jacinto Mora (October 22, 1876 – October 10, 1947) was a Uruguayan-born American
cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...
, photographer, artist,
cartoonist
A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...
, illustrator, painter, muralist, sculptor, and historian who lived with the
Hopi
The Hopi are a Native American ethnic group who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, there are 19,338 Hopi in the country. The Hopi Tribe is a sovereign nation within the Unite ...
and wrote about his experiences in
California. He has been called the "Renaissance Man of the West".
Early life
Mora was born on October 22, 1876 in
Montevideo
Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
,
Uruguay. His father was the
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
sculptor,
Domingo Mora
Domingo Mora (1840–1911) was a Spanish-American sculptor and architectural sculptor.
Career
Born in Catalonia, Spain, he studied sculpture in Barcelona and Madrid. He emigrated to Montevideo, Uruguay, where he married French-born Laura Ga ...
, and his mother was Laura Gaillard Mora, an intellectual born in the Bordeaux region of France. His elder brother was
F. Luis Mora
Francis Luis Mora (July 27, 1874 – June 5, 1940) was a Uruguayan-born 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 pain ...
, 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.
Career
Jo Mora studied art at the
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists.
Although artists may stu ...
and the
Cowles Art School in Boston. He also studied with
William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) 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 School of Design. ...
. He worked as a cartoonist for the
Boston Evening Traveller
The ''Boston Evening Traveller'' (1845–1967) was a newspaper published in Boston, Massachusetts. It was a daily newspaper, with weekly and semi-weekly editions under a variety of ''Traveller'' titles. It was absorbed by the '' Boston Herald'' ...
, and later, the
Boston Herald
The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulit ...
.
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
Mission Santa Inés (sometimes spelled Santa Ynez) was a Spanish mission in the present-day city of Solvang, California, and named after St. Agnes of Rome. Founded on September 17, 1804, by Father Estévan Tapís of the Franciscan order, the m ...
; 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. Later, in 1904, to 1906, Mora lived with the
Hopi
The Hopi are a Native American ethnic group who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, there are 19,338 Hopi in the country. The Hopi Tribe is a sovereign nation within the Unite ...
and
Navajo
The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States.
With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
near
Oraibi, Arizona. He took photographs, painted and otherwise recorded the daily life of these
Native Americans, including the
Hopi Snake Dance. He learned the Native languages and made detailed drawings of what he observed.
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
Domingo Mora (1840–1911) was a Spanish-American sculptor and architectural sculptor.
Career
Born in Catalonia, Spain, he studied sculpture in Barcelona and Madrid. He emigrated to Montevideo, Uruguay, where he married French-born Laura Ga ...
and his son, Jo Mora, was dedicated.
In 1915, he served on the International Jury of Awards at the
Panama-Pacific International Exposition and displayed six sculptures.
[ An online facsimile of the entire text of Vol. 1 is posted on the Traditional Fine Arts Organization website ().]
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
Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, United States, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. It is administered by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, which began in 1871 to oversee the development ...
. By 1919, he was sculpting for the
Bohemian Club
The Bohemian Club is a private club with two locations: a city clubhouse in the Nob Hill district of San Francisco, California and the Bohemian Grove, a retreat north of the city in Sonoma County. Founded in 1872 from a regular meeting of journal ...
, 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.
In 1921 the Mora family moved their primary residence to the largest art colony on the West Coast,
Carmel-by-the-Sea. Mora received a commission for the bronze and travertine
Cenotaph, for Father
Junípero Serra
Junípero Serra y Ferrer (; ; ca, Juníper Serra i Ferrer; November 24, 1713August 28, 1784) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Order
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size ...
in the Memorial Chapel at the west end of
Mission Carmel
Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Río Carmelo, or Misión de San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, first built in 1797, is one of the most authentically restored Catholic mission churches in California. Located at the mouth of Carmel Valley, Californi ...
.
He served on the board of directors of the
Carmel Art Association
The Carmel Art Association (CAA) is a Not-for-profit arts organization and Art museum, 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 Peninsu ...
, where his sculptures were exhibited between 1927 and 1934. He co-established Carmel's first private art gallery which was operated by resident artists.
On July 22, 1922, for the opening day of the
Carmel Woods subdivision, Mora had carved and painted a wooded
statue
A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...
of Padre
Junípero Serra
Junípero Serra y Ferrer (; ; ca, Juníper Serra i Ferrer; November 24, 1713August 28, 1784) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Order
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size ...
, 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.
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.
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." He fashioned smaller dioramas for the
Will Rogers Memorial Museum in
Claremore, Oklahoma and the
Sutter's Fort
Sutter's Fort was a 19th-century agricultural and trade colony in the Mexican ''Alta California'' province.National Park Service"California National Historic Trail."/ref> The site of the fort was established in 1839 and originally called New Helve ...
Museum in
Sacramento, California.
"El Paseo" sculpture and the Carmel Dairy
In 1928, Mora made the "El Paseo" sculpture in the courtyard of the
El Paseo Building
El Paseo Building is a two-story commercial building in downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. The building is the best example of Spanish Eclectic commercial design in Carmel, inspired by the Spanish churches built in the 1880s. The building wa ...
on Dolores Street and 7th Avenue in Carmel. The sculpture was recorded with the
National Register of Historic Places on January 20, 2002, as an example of the artistic and cultural contributions of Mora to Carmel in the 1920s. It is a
terracotta sculpture of a
Californio
Californio (plural Californios) is a term used to designate a Hispanic Californian, especially those descended from Spanish and Mexican settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries. California's Spanish-speaking community has resided there sinc ...
man and a
Señorita
Señorita (the Spanish honorific equivalent of Miss) may refer to:
Film
* ''Senorita'' (film), a 1927 American silent film
*''Señorita'', a 2011 film directed by Isabel Sandoval
Music
* "Señorita" (Don Williams song), 1987
*'' Señorita EP'' ...
woman.
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."
Between 1908 and the late 1940s his sculptures, illustrations, watercolors and etchings were frequently exhibited across the United States.
Death
Mora died October 10, 1947, in
Monterey, California
Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...
. His last book, ''Californios'', which was devoted to the life of the rancheros of Alta California, was published posthumously.
In music
*Mora's image, "Evolution of the Cowboy", a 1933 poster, reprinted in 1939, promoting the
California Rodeo Salinas
Salinas, California, Salinas is a major stop on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuit. The Salinas rodeo (pronounced the Spanish way: "roDAYo") began in 1911 as a Wild West Show on the site of the old race track ground, now ...
, next re-purposed, beginning in 1950, as
Levi Strauss & Co. advertising, and later, part of the poster, the image of the ''Sweetheart of the Rodeo'', was used on
The Byrds' 1968 album ''
Sweetheart of the Rodeo''.
*Western performer Mike Beck's album ''Where the Green Grass Grows'' includes a song about Mora entitled "In Old California". It was written by Beck and
Ian Tyson.
Coinage
Mora designed the 1925
California Diamond Jubilee half dollar
The California Diamond Jubilee half dollar was a United States commemorative silver fifty-cent piece struck at the San Francisco Mint in 1925. It was issued to celebrate the 75th anniversary of California statehood.
The San Francisco Citize ...
.
Works
*
*
*
*
Bibliography
* ''When I Get Wound Up Writing I'm a Bad Article to Squelch: The Written Words of Jo Mora'' by Peter Hiller. (2008) .
* ''The Life and Times of Jo Mora: Iconic Artist of the American West'' by Peter Hiller. Published by the Book Club of California, San Francisco, CA. October 2019. .
* ''The Life and Times of Jo Mora: Iconic Artist of the American West'' by Peter Hiller.
Published by Gibbs-Smith, Layton, Utah. April, 2021. (Hardcover)
Museum Catalogs
*''The Year of the Hopi: Paintings and Photographs by Joseph Mora, 1904-'06'', Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C., 1979
*''Jo Mora: Artist and Writer'', Monterey Museum of Art, 1998
*''Back to the Drawing Board with Artist Jo Mora'', Monterey History and Art Association, Monterey, CA, 2003
Gallery
File:Jo Mora - Scratching A Twister.jpg, ''Scratching A Twister'', 1915
File:J Mora - Poppy Girl.jpg, ''Poppy Girl'', 1915
File:Detail of Bret Harte sculpture.jpg, Bret Harte Memorial,
Bohemian Club
The Bohemian Club is a private club with two locations: a city clubhouse in the Nob Hill district of San Francisco, California and the Bohemian Grove, a retreat north of the city in Sonoma County. Founded in 1872 from a regular meeting of journal ...
,
San Francisco,
1919
File:Monterey County Courthouse 2018 Salinas CA (7).jpg, Monterey County Court House
The Monterey County Court House is the court house for Monterey County in Salinas, California, United States.
History
The first Monterey County Court House was built in 1878, designed by Jacob Lenez, Jr., which was a brick Victorian building. ...
,
Salinas, California
Salinas (; Spanish for "Salt Marsh or Salt Flats") is a city in California and the county seat of Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is the most populous city in Monterey County. Salinas is an urban area lo ...
,
1937
File:KingCityHS-RobertStantonTheater.jpg, Facade,
Robert Stanton Theater,
King City High School, 1939
References
External links
Jo Mora Trust site*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080617175153/http://www.nau.edu/~cline/speccoll/guide/m/mora.html Cline Library Jo Mora Photo Collection br>
Californios
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mora, Jo
1876 births
1947 deaths
People from Montevideo
Uruguayan people of Catalan descent
Uruguayan people of French descent
American people of Catalan descent
American people of French descent
American cartoonists
American comics artists
American muralists
Art Students League of New York alumni
Western United States
American cartographers
American photographers
Hopi
Federal Art Project artists
Uruguayan emigrants to the United States
20th-century American sculptors
American male sculptors
20th-century American painters
American male painters
People from Pebble Beach, California
Sculptors from New York (state)
American currency designers
Coin designers
Uruguayan cartoonists
Uruguayan comics artists
Uruguayan muralists
Uruguayan photographers
20th-century Uruguayan painters
20th-century male artists
20th-century American male artists
20th-century Uruguayan sculptors