JOSEPH JACINTO MORA (1876-1947)

Jo Mora was a true renaissance man who also enjoyed an adventurous life. He was a sculptor, painter, muralist, etcher, illustrator, cartoonist, map-maker, saddle-maker, diorama-maker, photographer, author, actor – designer of everything from coins and book-plates to houses – leaving us a remarkable legacy.

“In a life characterized by artistic achievement, Mora continually derived inspiration from the people, colors, geography, textures, and history of California. As one of many ways he found to celebrate and share that history, Mora drew a series of pictorial maps, and it is these cartes, as he referred to them, for which Jo Mora may be best known.” (The Life and Times of Jo Mora, Hiller/2021).

Joseph Jacinto Mora (1876-1947)

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Joseph Jacinto Mora - "Carmel-By-The-Sea" - Color lithograph - 18 3/8" x 24 1/4" - Copyright: 1942 Jo Mora Publications - <br>Monterey, California lower right image <br>Published: 1942 Jo Mora Publications <br>Signature: Made by Jo Mora - lower right image <br> <br>NOTE: Jo made this map for the people of Carmel with a general history and current (1942) events, activities, and local people. Jo was also quite a dog lover and he included some of the town's dogs, gifted with personality, including his own dog Mike Mora. An unknown quantity of these maps had an advertising line added to the lower right margin in blue ink "50c with mailing tube - Jo Mora Publications, Monterey, Ca." was added for stores and places of business that had them on display. <br> <br>PROVENANCE: <br>Ex-Collection of Mrs. Betty Hoag McGlynn, California art historian and late daughter-in-law of early California artist, Thomas A. McGlynn (1878-1966). <br> <br>EXHIBITED/PUBLICATION: <br>Jo Mora - Artist and Writer/Monterey Museum of Art, 1998 <br>Jo Mora: Spokesman for the Old West - Abstracted from an essay by Betty Hoag McGlynn.
Joseph Jacinto Mora
"Carmel-By-The-Sea"
1942

Joseph Jacinto Mora - "Carmel-By-The-Sea" Past and Present - Color lithograph - 18 3/8" x 24 1/4" - Copyright: 1942 Jo Mora Publications - <br>Monterey, California lower right image <br>Published: 1942 Jo Mora Publications <br>Signature: Made by Jo Mora lower right image <br> <br>NOTE: Jo made this map for the people of Carmel with a general history and current (1942) events, activities, and local people. Jo was also quite a dog lover and he included some of the town's dogs, gifted with personality, including his own dog Mike Mora. An unknown quantity of these maps had an advertising line added to the lower right margin in blue ink "50c with mailing tube - Jo Mora Publications, Monterey, Ca." was added for stores and places of business that had them on display.
Joseph Jacinto Mora
"Carmel-By-The-Sea" Past and Present
1942

Joseph Jacinto Mora - "Evolution of a Cowboy" - Color lithograph - 30 1/4" x 22 3/4" - Copyright 1933 Jo Mora Lower right image <br>Published 1941; 1947; 1952; Jo Mora Publications, Monterey, California Lower left margin <br>Signature: Jo Mora Lower center image <br> <br>Directly from the estate of early California artist, <br>Thomas A. McGlynn (1878-1966) <br> <br>NOTE: For this second version, the map of Salinas on either side of the "Sweet Heart of the Rodeo" was changed to black silhouettes of cowboys on horses following a chuck wagon. This was on a bright yellow background.
Joseph Jacinto Mora
"Evolution of a Cowboy"
c. 1941

Joseph Jacinto Mora - "Evolution of the Cowboy" - Color lithograph - 30 1/4" x 22 3/4" - Copyright: 1933 Jo Mora - Lower right image <br>Published: 1941 - Jo Mora Publications, Monterey, California Lower left margin <br>Signature: Jo Mora - Lower center image <br> <br>NOTE: For this second version, the map of Salinas on either side of the "Sweet Heart of the Rodeo" was changed to black silhouettes of cowboys on horses following a chuck wagon. This was on a bright yellow background.
Joseph Jacinto Mora
"Evolution of the Cowboy"
1941

Joseph Jacinto Mora - "Grand Canyon" - Color lithograph - 14" x 18" - Copyright: 1931 Jo Mora lower left image <br>Published: 1959 <br>Jo Mora Publications, Monterey, California, lower left margin <br>Signature: Jo Mora lower left image <br> <br>NOTE: This map was published 28 years after the first black and white version (1931) and reduced in size with all the details the same except for the items listed below. This version was colored in by Ferdinand Burgdorff one of many close friends Jo had in Carmel. <br>1. Scenic Airways became Grand Canyon Airlines, and the reference was changed on the airplane. The reference in the bottom left of the image was also struck out, but is still readable. <br>2. The Harvey Garage in the lower left image was changed to the "Fred Harvey" Garage.
Joseph Jacinto Mora
"Grand Canyon"
1959

Joseph Jacinto Mora - "Grand Canyon" - Color lithograph - 14" x 18" - Copyright: 1931 Jo Mora lower left image <br>Published: 1959 <br>Jo Mora Publications, Monterey, California, lower left margin <br>Signature: Jo Mora lower left image <br> <br>NOTE: This map was published 28 years after the first black and white version (1931) and reduced in size with all the details the same except for the items listed below. This version was colored in by Ferdinand Burgdorff one of many close friends Jo had in Carmel. <br>1. Scenic Airways became Grand Canyon Airlines, and the reference was changed on the airplane. The reference in the bottom left of the image was also struck out, but is still readable. <br>2. The Harvey Garage in the lower left image was changed to the "Fred Harvey" Garage.
Joseph Jacinto Mora
"Grand Canyon"
1959

Joseph Jacinto Mora - "Indians of North America" - - Color lithograph - 30" x 22 3/4" - Copyright: 1936 - The Jo Mora Maps, Carmel, California lower center image <br>Published: 1942 - Jo Mora Publications, Monterey, California lower right margin <br>Published: 1950 - Jo Mora Publications, Monterey, California lower right <br> <br>Directly from the estate of early California artist, <br>Thomas A. McGlynn (1878-1966) <br> <br>NOTE: The original cartes were dedicated to Lorenzo Hubbell (Nakai Tao) Jo's pal and trader from the Navajo Reservation. An interesting point about the Indian items, drawn on each side of the cartes were items owned by Jo which he collected while living in Mokiland from 1904 through 1906. The cartes were printed by Arthur Fey in San Francisco on uncoated paper. <br> <br>In 1950 Arthur Fey again printed this carte but this time decided to print it on semi-glossy paper which was popular then and helped keep these wonderful colors longer. This printing was chosen for the 1998 Monterey Museum of Art catalogue for the tribute show to Jo Mora.
Joseph Jacinto Mora
"Indians of North America" -
1950

Joseph Jacinto Mora - "The Seventeen Mile Drive" - Color lithograph - 30 1/2" x 22 1/2" - Copyright: 1927 The Del Monte Properties Co. lower right margin <br>Published: 1927 The Del Monte Properties Co. <br>Signature: "This Map by Jo Mora" lower left image <br> <br>This is the second map that Jo drew, and the first printing. This second map was also commissioned by the Del Monte Properties Company to advertise the 17-Mile area and its tourist attractions. The copyright was done after the first printing and like the Monterey Peninsula map, the copyright did not show up until the second printing in 1928-29.
Joseph Jacinto Mora
"The Seventeen Mile Drive"
1927

Joseph Jacinto Mora - "Yosemite" - Color lithograph - 21 3/4" x 16 7/8" - Copyright: 1996 Yosemite Association lower right margin <br>Published: 1996 Yosemite Association <br> <br>This map was available from the Yosemite Association and they came with a short history of the map. A short quote from the paper follows. "This reprint of Jo Mora's cartoon-style map of Yosemite Valley is made from the original artwork in the museum. The poster illustrates many historical features of the valley which no longer exist but were left as originally done in 1931. The art from which this poster is rendered is quite faded but through the use of the computer technology the color approaches its earlier appearance."
Joseph Jacinto Mora
"Yosemite"
1996