Artist Jo Mora

Behind the Bookshelves

We’re discussing the American artist Jo Mora (1876-1947) with Peter Hillier from the Jo Mora Trust. Mora should be much better known than he is. He worked across many mediums, including books and maps, and dedicated much of his work to the American West and particularly California. Mora was a cartoonist, a sculptor, a painter, a photographer, an author and an illustrator. He traveled and lived in Arizona and California where he recorded, through his art, the lives of the Hopi and Navajo Native Americans. He grew to understand the Cowboy culture firsthand by extensively travelling through California on horseback on his own. As his career blossomed, his sculptures appeared throughout California.