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Evening on the Avenue

The very word “avenue” awakens memories…of lively, flourishing main streets of turn-of-the-century America. Families strolled America’s avenues then, to conduct their business and to carry on their social life. Churches and brightly lit shops adorned the thoroughfares; pedestrians shared the busy streets with horseless carriages and horse-drawn trolleys all felt safe.

Evening on the Avenue, inspired by a still-flourishing main street in Charleston, South Carolina, is a nostalgic look back to a time when streets like this were the life-blood of the nation and not mere curiosities. A time when families strolled America’s main streets to mix and meet and conduct their business.

A clearing dusk paints the scene with a silvery softness as gas lamps and windows blaze gold and amber; rain-washed pavement adds a festive glow. The painting has a symbolic message: the peacefulness and serenity of traditional communities are still the heart of any nation.

  • Thomas Kinkade has placed a total of twelve N’s in Evening on the Avenue, as an ongoing tribute to his wife Nanette.
  • Charleston is known as the Holy City due to its density of church steeples in the skyline.
  • When Thom began painting this work, he was reading “Gone With the Wind.”
  • Evening on the Avenue is a 1910 – 1920 era painting, meant to view city life as the charming and energized city of the early 1900s.
  • The 300-year-old streets of Charleston are narrow and rough, reminders of the time when travel was by foot, horse or ship.
  • A carriage ride in Charleston will take you through its historic neighborhoods and almost everyone enjoys the clippity-clop on the pavement as the horse drawn carriage ambles slowly down Charleston’s charming and historic avenues. The horse drawn carriage tours of historic downtown Charleston highlight the most famous monuments, public buildings, and historic homes.
  • Originally settled by the British in the year 1670, Charleston has remained for decades The Cradle of Southern History and Charm.
  • When asked about the significance to 7:02 pm on the clock, Thom simply replied that there was no significance “other than seven o’clock is the transition to evening and I love to paint transition moments.”
Title Evening on the Avenue
Published July 2007
Subject Location Charleston, South Carolina

Image Sizes

12" x 18"
18" x 27"
24" x 36"

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