Sleepless Night (from Les Vieilles Histoires)

Sleepless Night (from Les Vieilles Histoires) is a significant print created by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in 1893. This lithograph showcases the artist's inventive approach to the medium, utilizing brush and spatter techniques along with a scraper to achieve rich textural variation and deep, saturated blacks on wove paper. As the only documented state of the work, the piece offers a pristine view of Toulouse-Lautrec's technical mastery of the demanding lithographic process. The work belonged to a set of graphic creations known as Les Vieilles Histoires (Old Stories), reflecting the fin-de-siècle fascination with narrative and intimate character studies among the Parisian bourgeoisie.

The subject matter focuses on the inner life of men observed during the quiet hours of the night, a recurrent, introspective theme in Toulouse-Lautrec's vast output. Unlike his famous, highly kinetic posters depicting dancers and cabarets, this piece offers a private, psychological portrayal. The use of heavy ink and dramatic contrasts, achieved through the scraping technique, emphasizes the atmosphere of mental strain and isolation suggested by the title Sleepless Night. The piece captures the mood of the late 19th-century urban environment, where quiet anxieties were frequently observed by the artist.

This technically complex print exemplifies Toulouse-Lautrec’s profound contribution to the evolution of modern graphic art. The work is housed in the extensive collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it serves as a key example of the innovative French printmaking techniques being developed during the 1890s. The quality and expressive power of the lithograph confirm its enduring importance as a vital component of the artist's graphic media legacy.