Carl “Karl” Moseley was born on February 5, 1879, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to Charles and Julia Moseley. He moved with his parents to Limona, Florida, in 1882, where he developed a love for art and showed impressive drawing skills at a young age. He pursued his art career by studying in New York and had his work published for the first time by the David C. Cook Publishing Company in 1898. He changed the spelling of his name to Karl based on the advice of his uncle George Daniels, a marketing and advertising specialist. In 1903, Karl illustrated Joel Chandler Harris’ book, which was similar to the well-known Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit stories. He later became a respected New York artist, with his work appearing in Life, Harper’s, and McClure’s Magazine, among other national publications.
In the early 1930s, Karl returned to the Moseley Homestead in Limona due to the Great Depression and made his home in Owl’s Junction, a room built above the workshop and tool shed at the family’s house. This became his art studio, where he worked for the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) art project, creating many pieces depicting “the historical phases of rural life around Tampa.” In 1937, thirty of his works were part of an exhibition at the Fine Arts Building at the Florida State Fair Grounds in Tampa, and in 1938, a Florida Artists Series called “A Survey of Activity in Retrospect” toured the state’s Federal Art Galleries. Karl died on November 13, 1964, at age 85, and is buried alongside his family in Limona Cemetery.
PHOTO GALLERY
THE ART OF KARL MOSELEY
In 1937, thirty-three of Karl’s black-and-white, pen-and-ink and India ink wash drawings became part of a Works Progress Administration exhibition at the Fine Arts Building at the Florida State Fair Grounds in Tampa. Later, in 1938, a Florida Artists Series entitled “A Survey of Activity in Retrospect” toured the state’s Federal Art Galleries. Karl worked with the Director of the WPA project in Florida, Mrs. Eve Alsman Fuller.
