La nuit (du 14 juillet ?)

La nuit (du 14 juillet ?) (The Night, 14th July?) depicts a night scene that may record the Bastille Day celebrations of 14 July, when Paris streets traditionally fill with dancing, fireworks, and illumination. Nocturnal and festive subjects were relatively unusual for Vuillard, whose characteristic subjects are domestic, private, and daylit. A 14 July street scene would represent an excursion into the public urban world that contrasts with the enclosed domesticity of his mature work, suggesting either an early date or a specific occasional impulse to record a public celebration.

The nocturnal palette relies on dark blues and blacks punctuated by artificial illumination, creating a different tonal atmosphere from Vuillard's daylit interiors. The handling of light sources — lanterns, street lights, fireworks — required him to work with radiating light effects rather than diffuse domestic illumination.