F. Luis Mora (1874-1940) America's First Hispanic Master: Seated Nude Boy With Flute

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Book Review: F. Luis Mora ... America's First Hispanic Master, by Lynne Pauls Baron
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Cover Illustration: F. Luis Mora, Self-portrait, 1905

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Lynn Pauls Baron of Baron Art Estate Managers, LLC, Madison, Ct., has written the definitive book on the life and work of F. Luis Mora (1874-1940). If you are interested in the life, times, and work of this great artist, then I highly recommend the Baron book. She and her associates have done a wonderful job of researching this fine artist.

Francis Luis Mora was the son of one painter and sculptor, and the brother of another. He was a well known illustrator, muralist, and portraitist whose work reflects a blend of Spanish and modern-American influences. Mora was born in Uruguay in 1874. his father Domingo Mora, was a well known artist himself, who gave Mora his early influences and training. The family moved to the United States and Mora attended school in New Jersey, New York City, and Boston. He studied drawing with Frank Benson and Edmund Tarbell at the Boston museum of Fine Arts. he later studied under H. Siddons Mowbray at the Art Students League in New York City. He traveled to Europe to study the great paintings of the old masters. By age 18, Mora was doing illustrations for leading periodicals. In 1900 he received a commission for a mural in the public library of Lynn, Massachusetts. In 1904 he painted the Missouri State Building mural for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis. He painted portraits of the greats of his day, including Andrew Carnegie and President Warren G. Harding, which hangs in the White House.

Mora worked in oils, watercolor, charcoal, and pastels. In addition, he produced etchings and sculpture. Like his mentors, Tarbell and Benson, he captured the flavor of leisure life. Mora taught at the Art Students League, the Grand Central School of Arts, and the New York School of Art, New York, N.Y.

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Here are a few examples of the many beautiful illustrations in the Baron book:

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F. Luis Mora - American Gladiators... 1905

F. Luis Mora ... Head Lock .. 1907

Domingo Mora - An Interesting Book....(Luis Napping) 1880

Domingo Mora .... Catching flies (Jo Napping) 1880

F. Luis Mora ... Jo Mora, ca. 1911

F. Luis Mora... Female Nude ... 1892

Book Title: F. Luis Mora: America's First Hispanic Master (1874-1940)

Author: Lynne Pauls Baron

Publisher: Falk Art Reference, Madison, Ct (2008)

ISBN: 10 0-932087-62-0

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This academic drawing of a seated nude boy with flute came into my collection several years ago directly from Lynne Pauls Baron's Gallery in New England. It dates from the early years of his career and is most probably an academic study from his student days.

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Caption: Seated Nude Boy With Flute

Artist: F. Luis Mora

Medium: Charcoal on paper

Dated: July 1890

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Here are a few examples of Luis Mora's Academic works:

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