Three girls photo by photographer Mora from New York

Mora, Jose Maria from New York.

Photography carte-de-visite | Portrait photo of three girls by photographer Jose Maria Mora from New York, ca 1870?, 1 p.

Name: Photography carte-de-visite | Portrait photo of three girls by photographer Jose Maria Mora from New York, ca 1870?, 1 p.
SKU: F10009
Availability: InStock

Photography, Vintage albumen print. A photo of three anonymous girls by the American photographer Jose Maria Mora, 707 Broadway, New York. He was a photographer of the Rich and Famous during the Gilded age.

Mora was a young dashing Cuban refugee. Born in Cuba around 1849 to a wealthy family, he was sent to England to study painting and when the Cuban Revolution forced the rest of his family to emigrate to the States, he joined them in New York. He quickly found employment at Napoleon Sarony’s photography studio, which at the time was the most artistic and well-regarded studio in the city. In 1870 Mora opened his own studio and immediately became one of the biggest rivals to his old boss, Sarony.

In 1893, abruptly and without explanation, Mora closed his studio at 707 Broadway. Some said that he went mad trying to restore the family fortune that had been lost in the aftermath of the revolution, but even now nobody knows for certain. For about 30 years, nothing was heard from or about Mora until 1926 the New York Times informed the public that he was more or less starving in hotel Breslin (now Ace Hotel). Mora had lived there since 1911, surviving on a diet of 15 cent pies and whatever else fellow residents were generous enough to give. His padlocked room contained his only company – starving, half-dead pigeons. He surrounded himself with memories of a better time – yellowed newspapers and theater programs filled with the names of stars he had photographed decades before. Sadly, he was declared incompetent and died a few months later at St. Vincent’s Hospital, leaving $200.000 on his bank account. (Museum of the City of New York blog).

[NL] Carte de visite foto van drie meisjes. Gemaakt door de beroemde Amerikaanse society fotograaf Mora, New York, Broadway.

SKU: F10009

Photograph on cardboard, measurement 165 x 105 mm. The photo is in good condition.

€ 72,60 (€ 60,00 ex. btw)

In stock