Mora, F. Luis (Francis Luis)
(b. 1874
d. 1940)
F. Luis Mora papers, 1895-1969, bulk 1895-1922
Painter, Muralist, Illustrator, EtcherNew York, N.Y.
Correspondence, diaries and other writings; photographs and glass plate negatives, and printed materials relating to Mora's career as a painter and illustrator.
Correspondence consists mostly of family letters, among them a letter from Mora to his wife's grandmother; a letter from Mora's wife, Sonia, to her grandmother; a letter from Emma Disosway Compton to her mother-in-law Emma DuBois Compton, and two postcards from Sonia Mora to her mother Emma Compton written from Cadiz, Spain. Also found is a letter to Mora from William Howe Downes with sketches by Mora.
242 monthly pocket diaries, 1899-1922, make up the bulk of the writings. The diaries contain brief daily entries and some sketches. The set for 1921 is missing and many years are incomplete. Mora writes about his work, including commissions for his paintings, murals, and illustrations, occasionally listing works sold, price and buyer information. He writes about his memberships in the Salmagundi Club and the National Academy of Design, teaching at the Art Students League, his ideas about painting, and his observations of the art scene including his visit to the 1913 Armory Show where he writes on March 17, 1913, "It was the purple hippopatamus in the rear tent that attracted the crowd at the 69th regiment Armory Show. That they call a successful art event. It was art- art in advertising." Also found is Mora's handwritten "Editorial," probably for election to the Lotis Club.
Photographs and glass plate negatives are of Mora, his family and students. Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, newspaper clippings, magazines, some with illustrations by Mora, as well as two books illustrated by Mora, including "Birthright" by T.S. Stribling (1922), and "The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg," and other essays and stories, by Mark Twain (1923).
Microfilm reel(s): 3567-3569
