Los Moreno

The photography gallery of the Museum of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando presents, from 17 June to 22 November, an exhibition featuring a selection of 12 works by the photographers Mariano Moreno (Miraflores de la Sierra, 1865-Madrid, 1925) and Vicente Moreno (Madrid, 1894-1954), which form part of the Academy's holdings. In addition, bibliographic and periodical material from the Pedro Melero / Marisa Llorente collection is on display.

Casa Moreno was established by Mariano Moreno in 1893. It succeeded in bringing together a vast photographic archive of over sixty thousand negatives, containing not only reproductions of works of art, but also hundreds of photographs of cities and an extraordinary gallery of portraits of artists and illustrious figures.

Dedicated photographic craftsmanship reached maturity in the mid-19th century, when it found a solvent clientele eager for images: the rising bourgeoisie. Over the years, the initial daguerreotype gave way to so-called photographic printing houses, whose work was decisive for the mass reproduction of images in large print runs.

Printing houses succeeded one another across Europe and America. In Madrid, the pioneering work of Laurent et Cie was continued by the business founded by Mariano Moreno at the end of the 19th century.

The Photo Library of the Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute (IPCE) has granted the Academy the rights to the photographs exhibited in this display and in the accompanying publication.