Aureliano de Beruete y Moret, Son

Aureliano de Beruete was a famous Spanish artist who later became involved in politics. He was portrayed by Joaquin Sorolla in 1902, and in the same year, so was his son, Aureliano de Beruete y Moret.

Moret would continue the legacy of his father within the art world, though not as an artist himself. He was a critic and art historian. He would eventually serve as Director of the Museo del Prado and took advantage of the opportunities gifted to him by his father, whilst still managing to forge his own path within the same industry. There would have been plenty of situations such as this within the late 19th and early 20th century where family lines would take advantage of their success in order to help establish something of a legacy through the family line, down generations. There is not so much wrong with this in the case of the father and son here, and the beneficiary would still have had to have been good enough in his role in order to survive, and it was merely the opportunities in the first place that gave him an advantage over others.

Although we are aware of the portrait of his father from the same year, it was actually the mother, María Teresa Moret, who was first portrayed, in 1901. It shows a strong connection with the family that Sorolla would tackle all three separately, and within a short space of time when he would also have normally had other projects to work on as well. The son captured here looks entirely dignified, clearly the beneficiary of his father's success in terms of education, connections, etc. He would still have to work hard, however, in order to achieve what he did and so opportunities were his main advantage in his early years. He would eventually become the Prado Museum Director, having earlier started as an art historian and clearly Sorolla is unsure as to how to portray this symbolically and so simply includes details to deliver the gentleman as a respected figure of society. Compare that to the painting of his father, Aureliano de Beruete, who is joined by an artwork in the background to clearly symbolise his own occupation to those unfamiliar with him.

This painting can be found in the incredible collection of the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain. They cover Spanish art particularly well, but also have a number of major artists from other European nations to enjoy as well. Sorolla himself is known to have spent time studying the old masters here during his own lifetime, particularly when young and looking for inspiration and knowledge. Indeed, even another century later you will still find budding young artists taking their time to study some of these great works in detail, perhaps sitting and sketching individual elements over the course of many hours whilst tourists walk past them in great numbers. A visit to the Prado will unveil other famous artworks such as La maja desnuda and La maja vestida by Francisco de Goya, and they are actually placed alongside to allow us to compare and contrast their differences very easily.