This project was born out of an encounter between Valrhona’s Cité du Chocolat in Tain l’Hermitage and the Palais du Facteur Cheval in Hauterives: two worlds nourished by creativity, imagination and heritage. Presented in the enchanting setting of the Palais, the sculpture dialogues with the dreamlike universe of Facteur Cheval, while bearing the unique signature of Valrhona chocolate.
This imposing chocolate sculpture, measuring over one metre high, one metre fifty long and sixty centimetres wide, is the result of the talent of the chefs at the Valrhona School. In homage to the unique work of Facteur Cheval, it took nearly 50 hours to create, embodying Valrhona’s expertise and its deep attachment to its region.
Like Facteur Cheval, the self-taught artist who transformed stones into fantastical creatures, chefs saw chocolate as an infinite source of inspiration, capable of awakening everyone’s senses. They drew inspiration from his techniques, using chocolate as he used lime: beans, bars, shaped pieces, mouldings, sculptures, assemblages, modelling… All the possibilities offered by chocolate were explored and worked by hand, in the manner of Facteur Cheval. Here, cocoa beans become the chocolate maker’s pebbles.
In keeping with the tradition of naïve art, this creation celebrates the ability to transform simple elements into extraordinary works of art. Several nods to the artist’s work punctuate the sculpture: the tower, the palm tree, the shells and the famous ‘stumbling block’. To put their own stamp on this work, the chefs have also incorporated their own chocolate symbols: cocoa pods, cocoa beans, chocolate bars, fritters.
Just as Facteur Cheval slipped messages into his palace, numerous inscriptions, some hidden, some visible, are scattered throughout the sculpture.
