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F. Luis Mora grew up in Perth Amboy, New Jersey and he married the Mayor's daughter Sophia Brown Compton in in 1900.  He had been living in Boston, but she was his childhood sweetheart.  He affectionately called her "Sonia."  Between 1895 and 1910 Mora produced a series of paintings of the Mayor's family who became the artist's wife and in-laws.  The Mayor had five children,  Sophia, Lola, James (Alfred), Luke and William.

Please click photos for larger images.

 

The artist's wife, Sophia Brown Compton Mora; and her sister, Lola Compton.  Watercolor on paper, 26 x 20 inches, circa 1900. Collection, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Inventory 65.237)

Shadows on the Porch, Sophia Mora and her grandmother, Emma Compton,  while summering in Wrentham, MA, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches, 1904.  Collection, the artist's estate. 

"Dear Grandma," Mora wrote in July, 1902, "Sonia-mia and I are waiting for your visit to Wrentham.  We trust you will find it restful here."   This photo does not show the elaborate white-on-white cotton lace of Sonia's dress and her matching shoes.  Emma Compton was blind. Mora fades her eyes in the painting.

Photo forthcoming: Portrait of Sophia Brown Compton, the artist's future wife in 1897, wearing a white opera cloak with fur collar , oil on canvas. Signed upper right and Inscribed: To Sophie, 1897. 14 x 12 inches. Collection, the artist's estate.

Sophia in Black, oil on canvas, 44 x 32 inches, Collection, the estate of the artist. 

This painting shows Sophia Mora after a family tragedy.  The young couple lost their first child in 1916. Rosemary, their daughter, was born in July, 1918.

This painting depicts the mayor's three sons (Alfred, Luke and William) on their sailboat, The Ellida. The young men were the artist's brothers-in-law who are depicted sailing the Hudson River with the New Jersey Palisades in the background.  The artist sold this painting to the director of the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette (Indiana) in 1909, and waited to deliver it until it was exhibited at the National Academy in 1910. After winning medals at the St. Louis Exhibition of 1904 and painting murals on the Missouri State Building, he placed paintings in the Greater Lafayette Museum in Indiana and the Butler Museum in Ohio.