Night at Sea (Oceano nox) from Quatorze lithographies originales (Mélodies de Désiré Dihau)

Night at Sea (Oceano nox) from Quatorze lithographies originales (Mélodies de Désiré Dihau) is a defining French lithograph created by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in 1895. This work, conceived during the height of the artist’s output, belongs to a suite of fourteen original illustrations compiled into a posthumously published 1935 edition. The classification as an Illustrated Book emphasizes its integration with the musical compositions of Désiré Dihau, a musician and acquaintance of the artist.

The piece demonstrates Toulouse-Lautrec's mastery of the lithographic medium, a technique he frequently employed to capture the fleeting moments and atmospheric quality of fin-de-siècle Parisian life. While the artist is celebrated for his vibrant depictions of cabaret performers and the Montmartre scene, Night at Sea presents a starker, emotionally charged subject. The economical use of line and deep tonal variation characterizes the dark, powerful immensity of the ocean implied by the Latin subtitle, Oceano nox. The work relies on graphic restraint, allowing the viewer to perceive both the vastness of the scene and the psychological depth typical of French Symbolist sensibilities toward the end of the 19th century.

The creation of the visual design occurred in 1895, placing it squarely within the creative period when Toulouse-Lautrec was innovating the use of large-scale graphic prints as independent artistic statements. This example of his innovative printmaking is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), contributing to the museum's comprehensive holdings of significant French graphic arts from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The sustained quality and influence of this work ensure its place as a key reference in the study of modern prints.