The Close of Day
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of William T. Evans
Accession Number
1909.7.20
Tags
roadevening
About this artwork
Charles Melville Dewey was among the practitioners of American tonalism, a style of painting characterized by muted colors and soft-edged, atmospheric effects. The Close of Day captures that fleeting moment as shadows gather and the sun slips beneath the horizon. In the foreground, light reflected in puddles highlights the cart tracks in a dirt road that leads to a house with a smoking chimney, seen in the distance.