250. Jacques de Lajoue (Paris 1687-1761) Port with a pyramid; Ruins of a palace seen from a cave (1730) a pair, both signed 'LAJOUE' (lower right) oil on panel a pair, both signed 'LAJOUE' (lower right) oil on canvas 37.8 x 25.3cm (14 7/8 x 9 15/16in)(2) Provenance Sale, Paris, H.D., 9 June 1909, lots 18 and 19, where purchased by G. Bernard G. Bernard Sale, Paris, 7 March 1972, lots 126 and 127 ill. With Galerie Cailleux, Paris, where purchased by the present owner on the 28 October 1976. Literature M. L. Bataille, Lajoue, in L. Dimier, Les peintre français du XVIIIe siècle, Histoire des vies et catalogue des œuvres, Paris and Brussels, vol II, 1930, nos 20 and 21 (Port avec une pyramide) M. Roland Michel, Lajoüe et l'art rocaille, Paris, 1954, pp. 89, 90, 201, ill. fig. 87. These two works by Jacques de Lajoue are exemplary of the artist's highly imaginative approach to the Rococo capricci where fantasy and architectural invention combine. In Port avec une pyramide, Lajoue juxtaposes a detailed port scene with a distant pyramid, invoking the allure of ancient civilizations, while subtly playing with the rocaille penchant for exoticism. Ruine d'un palais vues d'une grotte depicts a shadowed grotto with the grand, decaying forms of a ruined palace, a reflection of the 18th-century fascination with ruins and the sublime. Both compositions are marked by Lajoue's fluid brushwork and refined treatment of light and shadow that imbues the architectural forms with a fantastical quality. Published in Roland Michel's Catalogue Raisonné (see Literature), they are noted for their inspiration from Venetian artists, particularly from Salvator Rosa (1615-1673) or one of his followers.