Francisco Mora

The recorded working language is Spanish. The field of work recorded is painting. Diego Rivera is recorded as an influence. Work by Francisco Mora is recorded in the collections of Museum of Modern Art, Art Institute of Chicago and Print Collection.

• Name — Francisco “Pancho” Mora • Born — 7 May 1922 • Birthplace — Michoacán, Mexico • Died — 22 February 2002 • Place of death — Cuernavaca, Mexico • Education — La Esmeralda • Spouse — Elizabeth Catlett (m. 1947; his death) • Known for — Painting, Printmaking, murals

He was born in Uruapan, Michoacán). His father was a weaver, musician, and artist. In 1941, Mora relocated to Mexico City where he won a scholarship to study at the art school, La Esmeralda, where he was a pupil of Diego Rivera. Later in the same year, he began exhibiting with the Taller de Gráfica Popular, a communal graphics workshop founded by artists Leopoldo Méndez, Pablo O'Higgins and Luis Arenal that built on Mexico's rich tradition of political printmaking in order to advance revolutionary political and social causes. Mora remained a member of the TGP collective until 1965. During this time, his artistic focus was on social justice; making posters for trade unions and government literacy campaigns. Mora was a member of the "Mexican School" of mural artists. Other artists involved included Carlos Mérida, Francisco Zúñiga, Pablo O'Higgins and Elizabeth Catlett Mora. In the 1950s and 1960s, Mora exhibited his paintings and lithographs in Mexico and abroad.

In 1947, Mora married renowned African-American artist Elizabeth Catlett, who had moved to Mexico in 1946 and was also working at the Taller de Gráfica Popular. Their children included eldest son Francisco Mora Catlett, an accomplished jazz drummer; Juan Mora Catlett, a filmmaker who created the 1998 documentary about his parents titled Betty y Poncho; and youngest child, David Mora Catlett, also an artist. Grandchildren include singer Ife Sanchez Mora, photographer Nia Mora, and fashion model and season 4 America's Next Top Model winner Naima Mora. Francisco Mora died in 2002.