Le Temps De La Soirée, from a set of the hours of the day

About this artwork

Research in Progress

Art Historical Context

"Le Temps De La Soirée" captures the quiet transition into evening as part of a larger series illustrating the hours of the day. Created in 1740 by French printmaker Francois Antoine Aveline when he was just twenty-two, this work reflects the eighteenth-century fascination with time’s passage and the rhythms of daily life. The title, translating to “The Time of the Evening,” suggests a scene of winding down—perhaps lamplight, conversation, or rest—rendered for a broad audience through the accessible medium of print. Prints like this one allowed artists to share imagery beyond elite circles, making art available to collectors and households across Europe. Aveline’s choice to depict ordinary moments within a structured daily cycle offered viewers both practical decoration and gentle reminders of life’s fleeting hours. Now preserved in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the work invites modern visitors to consider how eighteenth-century audiences marked time before electric light and digital clocks. Though research on the specific imagery continues, the print’s elegant lines and balanced composition exemplify the refined graphic traditions of mid-eighteenth-century France.