Laura Gaillard Mora had two sisters, Ernestina and Gabriella, who married into the Bacardi family, famous for its rum.

[1] He had a younger brother, Joseph Jacinto "Jo" Mora, who would go on to become a noted sculptor, photographer and author in California.

During the Economic Crash of 1893, they all went back to Perth Amboy, New Jersey, which remained Mora's home base all of his life.

While he was a child, Mora's father oversaw his early education in the arts, and young Luis produced hundreds of drawings and watercolors.

At the age of fifteen Mora enrolled in the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where he studied under the American Impressionists Edmund Charles Tarbell and Frank Weston Benson.

In 1892, Mora went on to complete his education at the Art Students League of New York, studying with Henry Siddons Mowbray.

The two visited family in Barcelona and then headed to Madrid, where Mora coincidentally saw William Merritt Chase in the Museo del Prado.

[2] In 1900, Mora married the daughter of the mayor of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Sophia ("Sonia") Brown Compton, who was his childhood sweetheart.

[5] During this time Mora also embarked upon a successful and prolific career as an illustrator, producing work for several books and publications, including Harper's Weekly, Scribner's, The Century, Collier's, Sunday Magazine, and Ladies' Home Journal.

Following that, Mora received a commission for the Missouri State Building at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (also known as the St. Louis World's Fair)in 1904.

After at least one attempt by another artist, Mora was selected by the Fine Arts Commission to paint a posthumous portrait of President Warren G.

She became his constant subject, and in 1921 he had a solo exhibition at the venerable William Macbeth Gallery, entitled "An American Summer," with many watercolors picturing toddler Rosemary.

In 192709, Mora had a solo exhibition at the Buenos Aires Museo de Bellas Artes (Argentina), which received glowing reviews in The New York Times.

In January 1928 Luis visited his younger brother, Jo Mora, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California and was feted by the Carmel Art Association, which opened a highly publicized “special exhibition” of his paintings on May 1.

His galleryist patrons were William Macbeth, Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Milch, all known for showing the best American artists of the era.

Only recently, with the publication of his comprehensive biography by Lynne Pauls Baron, edited by Peter Hastings Falk, has Mora's memory and works experienced accolades that he deserves.

On September 20, 2008, Bacardi U.S.A., Inc. sponsored a gala celebration and lectures in Mora's honor at New York's National Art Club on Gramercy Park.

Mora's uncle Facundo Bacardi (married to Ernestina Gaillard) was the company's "master blender" who made rum a light, pleasant-tasting spirit.