Plan général du cercle de Mr. Bordea

Jean-Jacques Lequeu prints open the sketchbooks of one of the strangest architects of the French Revolution. Lequeu drew buildings that were never built: a stable shaped like a giant cow, a Gothic house for magicians, a temple holding a globe of the Earth. His fine wash drawings are precise, playful and dreamlike. Our collection of fine art prints includes his temples, follies, interiors, portraits and expressive heads.

About Jean-Jacques Lequeu

Jean-Jacques Lequeu was born in Rouen on 14 September 1757. He trained there and in 1779 came to Paris as a pupil of Jacques-Germain Soufflot, architect of the church of Sainte-Geneviève, today's Panthéon. In the 1780s he worked for private clients such as the Montholon family, designing façades, rooms and furnishings.

The Revolution swept those clients away. From 1793 he worked as a draughtsman in government offices, and in 1815 he was retired early on a small pension. In July 1825 he gave about 800 drawings and manuscripts to the Bibliothèque royale, now the Bibliothèque nationale de France, which holds almost all of his work. He died in Paris on 28 March 1826.

Lequeu was largely forgotten until the twentieth century. His first retrospective opened at the Petit Palais in Paris in 2018 and travelled to Houston and New York.

Style and Subjects

Lequeu's best-known sheets come from the Architecture civile, a never-published book of imaginary buildings set in a dream park. Each design has a long, poetic caption: the cow stable faces south onto the cool meadow, the hammock of love sits in a little garden of pleasures.

His drawing is meticulous, with fine pen lines and soft washes of colour, laid out in elevations, sections and plans like real architectural drawings. Yet the ideas are pure fantasy, mixing classical temples, Gothic towers, Chinese pavilions and buildings shaped like the things they hold.

Famous Works

• The Cow Stable (L'étable à vache tournée au midi) (1777–1825), Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. A cattle shed built in the shape of a huge cow, his most famous design.
• The Gothic House, called the Magicians' Lair (1777–1825), Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. A towered Gothic house by a river in his imaginary park.
• Temple of the Earth (1777–1825), Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. A temple holding a great globe of the Earth.
• The Hammock of Love (1777–1825), Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. A garden of pleasures with a hammock at its heart.
• Tomb of Isocrates (1789), Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. A monument for the Athenian orator.
• Façade of the Hôtel de Montholon, Paris (1780s), Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. A street front from one of his real commissions.
• Crowning of the Chinese Pavilion (1777–1825), Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. A seated figure under a fringed parasol tops a garden pavilion.

Decorating with Lequeu Prints

Lequeu's drawings are made for curious minds. They suit a study, library, architect's office or hallway, where people can stop and read the captions. A pair of elevations in thin black or gilt frames with wide mounts looks elegant over a desk or console.

The cow stable and the Gothic house are witty conversation pieces for a living room or dining room, and his interiors and furniture designs suit a bedroom or dressing room with a French, eighteenth-century feel.

FAQ

Who was Jean-Jacques Lequeu?

Jean-Jacques Lequeu (1757–1826) was a French architect and draughtsman from Rouen, a pupil of Soufflot, known today for his visionary drawings of imaginary buildings.

What is Lequeu's most famous drawing?

The cow stable, a cattle shed shaped like a giant cow, from his never-published Architecture civile.

Where can I see Lequeu's drawings?

The Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris holds almost all of his work, given by Lequeu himself in 1825. Many sheets can be seen online on Gallica.

Were Lequeu's buildings ever built?

Most were not. His fame rests on drawings of imaginary buildings rather than finished projects.

When was Lequeu rediscovered?

Interest grew in the twentieth century, and his first retrospective opened at the Petit Palais in Paris in 2018 before travelling to Houston and New York.

Related Artists

• Giovanni Battista Piranesi: Italian etcher of imaginary architecture
• Hubert Robert: French painter of ruins and garden follies of the same era
• Étienne-Louis Boullée: French visionary architect of the Revolution years
• Jacques-Germain Soufflot: his teacher, architect of the Panthéon