Description:
Francis Luis Mora (American, 1874-1940)
The Artist's Wife and Her Sister Arranging Flowers and Ribbons, alternatively titled Sonia and Lola at Leisure
Signed and dated "F. Luis Mora 1911" l.l.
Oil on canvas, 35 3/4 x 39 3/4 in. (91.0 x 101.0 cm),framed.
Condition: Lined, retouch, craquelure.
Provenance: Purchased from DeVille Galleries, Los Angeles, 1980.
Literature: Lynne Pauls Baron, F. Luis Mora: America's First Hispanic Master 1874-1940 (Madison, CT: Falk Art Reference, 2008),Illustrated plate 6.13.
N.B. The work depicts the artist's wife Sophia "Sonia" Brown Compton Mora (at right),and his sister-in-law, Lola Compton (at left) at the Compton Family Home, Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
We wish to thank Lynne Pauls Baron for her kind assistance with cataloguing the lot; the present work will be included in her forthcoming catalogue raisonné on Mora.
Estimate $15,000-20,000
According to Tom Yost Conservation report dated 11/5/2010, refill and inpaint applied to scattered narrow vertically trending losses in upper background, up to 2 inches in length. A few small losses in face and arm of woman on right as well as a vertical loss between the hands of the woman on right [Sophia]. Two small losses on edge of hair on woman on left [Lola], concentrated losses 1/16 to 1 inch in size in table, grapes, and vases. Detailed conservation report can be provided upon request.