Venus is just beginning of one of its January to August apparitions during which it attains tremendous height and elongation in the evening sky during the first half of the year, then undergoes inferior conjunction in August by passing well south of the Sun.  So in early January it is still very low in the sunset glow, here joined by Mercury.  Venus is at magnitude -3.92 and Mercury -0.73 on this date.  Unannotated image