The National Academy Jury of 1907

This canvas reveals Mora’s interest in reportage and his skill as a portraitist. Each member of the jury can be identified. For example, tall and thin John White Alexander—the seventh figure from the left—towers over the crowd. A few figures to the right of Alexander, the bespectacled William Merritt Chase stands with a cigar stuck in his mouth. Mora also included a self-portrait: he is the dark-haired man standing with his back to the viewer, leaning in to study the painting under consideration. Coats and umbrellas piled high on a bench and scattered papers on the floor lend a hint of benign confusion to the scene.