Jo Mora

January 26, 2012 6:59 PM

Jo Mora was a California (by way of Uruguay and Boston) painter, sculptor, author, photographer and, most notably, map-maker. He sculpted the many figures on the Monterey County Courthouse and designed the chapel in the Carmel mission. He spent three years living with and photographing the Navajo and Hopi in Arizona. He authored and illustrated a number of children's books. Of all his many talents, Mora was probably best known for his unique maps ("cartes" as he called them) of the West. He created incredibly detailed maps, interesting, funny and maybe anachronistically racial, of California, Yosemite and Yellowstone. Music fans will recognize Mora's work from the Byrds' 1968 album Sweetheart of the Rodeo (full carte here).
posted by one_bean (4 comments total)

As a California transplant myself, I've been regularly surprised to find Mora's work in so many unexpected places. I'm also fairly certain his maps were inspiration for Martin Hanford.
posted by one_bean at 8:14 PM on January 26, 2012

Those maps are awesome!
posted by 2N2222 at 8:41 PM on January 26, 2012

Here's one of L.A.
posted by one_bean at 10:59 PM on January 26, 2012

Haven't gotten a chance to look through the links yet, but "cartes" is French for maps.
posted by desjardins at 6:02 AM on January 27, 2012