Avond Possibly 1896

Hendrik Johannes Haverman created this lithograph called Avond, or Evening, in the Netherlands. It depicts a mother gazing at her child in her arms, conveying a sense of quiet intimacy. As an image circulated in print media, it speaks to the changing role of women and the family at this time. We see the image reproduced from "De Kroniek," which was a Dutch weekly magazine for art and literature, an emerging institutional context that shaped artistic production and consumption at the time. The scene evokes ideals of domesticity, reflecting the values of the Dutch middle class. Such images were consumed in the domestic space, as they were published in journals like this one. To understand the image better, it helps to research the history of Dutch family life and the circulation of images in print culture. Such research reveals how art both reflects and shapes social norms.