Throughout the history of art, many artists have found an inexhaustible source of inspiration in the pure and perfect form of the egg. A universal symbol of creation, life, birth, and rebirth, it has left its mark on history and mythology. An essential ingredient in pastry making, it is a key and symbolic element of Easter.

For this reason, Frédéric Bau, through the De Main de Maître Association, is organizing the Eggxtraordinaire exhibition, which invites 94 artisans and artists to celebrate the egg by presenting unique and exclusive creations. Pastry chefs, chocolatiers, painters, and sculptors have worked with more than 50 materials, including chocolate, wood, and paper, to create extraordinary textures and effects.

Among the participating chefs are Frédéric Bau himself, Oriol Balaguer, Nicolas Bernardé, Jeffrey Cagnes, Marc Ducobu, Yann Duytsche, Pierre Hermé, Jean-Paul Hévin, Jacob Torreblanca, Étienne Leroy, Christophe Morel, Éric Ortuño, Enric Rovira, and Mori Yoshida, among many others.

“What I am most proud of is having brought together the worlds of craftsmanship and art, which rarely interact, to highlight the purity and all the inspiration that the egg evokes,” says Bau.

The exhibition, which can be visited from April 3 to May 3 at the Galerie Joseph in Paris, has Pierre Hermé and Patrick Roger as honorary presidents, and Anne-Sophie Pic and Pascal Oudet as patrons. Following the success of 2023, Valrhona is once again sponsoring the 2026 edition.

A book to continue the experience

To complement the exhibition, a unique book has been created: Eggxtraordinaire, a work that showcases the creations of the 94 participating artists while exploring the rich history of the egg in art.

Published by Éditions de La Martinière in a bilingual French-English edition, it is enhanced by the photographs of Laurent Fau, a photographer specializing in the world of luxury and gastronomy.