It took Pablo Picasso just one afternoon to paint his masterpiece Le Rêve, while Leonardo da Vinci took the best part of 16 years to finish the mesmeric Mona Lisa. Time, when it comes to art, is most certainly relative.
Perhaps this idea of relativity, first postulated by Albert Einstein, was running through Cadogan Tate’s New York vice president of business development Stephen McHugh’s mind when, one afternoon, he quipped to representatives from The Faberge Big Egg Hunt that wouldn’t it be a great idea to make an egg to look like a wooden crate.
A slight back story may help make sense of this. Cadogan Tate, official logistics partner for the world’s biggest egg hunt, had arranged a tour of its warehouse with the small group. Preceding Steve’s suggestion was a remark that the leading fine art storage, shipping and transport company’s crates themselves looked beautiful, almost like furniture.
And so it was that Steve found himself in welcome but challenging situation … how to create a sculpture of artistic brilliance to stand alongside contributions by Tracey Emin, Jeff Koons, Betty Woodman and Frank Hyder, to name but a few. You could say he found himself in a bit of a ‘pickled egg’ situation (poor pun, but we had to).
They gave Steve four days to deliver something spectacular. Relativity took a leave of absence and in its place was an hourglass burning through sand like there was no tomorrow. A couple of days in and still unclear about how he would pull this gig off, he managed to get a three-day extension.
Getting down to serious artistic business, he called up carpenter and furniture restorer Seamus Fairtlough, who works closely with Cadogan Tate, to get his expert counsel, specifically, how do you go about bending wood around a two and half foot fibreglass egg?
Surely this was impossible? Sure, absent of ingenuity, but they eventually landed on using flexible wooden moulding, which is often used for arched windows, producing architectural accents and along archways.
“I found a supplier nearby, bought a bunch of lengths and we started playing around with, with Seamus helping me, to figure how to get it around the egg,” Steve said. “We stuck it out for a couple of days before we were successful.”
The next challenge was giving the blank egg a wooden aesthetic. There was only one person he could think of: his mum Sarah McHugh, who is a prominent local artist based in upstate New York.
“I sprung it on her real last minute, asking her how she felt about painting an egg to look like wood … she had no idea what I was talking about.”
Steve, armed with big egg in hand, clarified, and Sarah, like the best of mums, was happy to assist. Together, for the first time in years, they worked on it, day and night, crafting the blank facade into something rather astonishing. It had been a long time coming, you could say.
Though his kids can often be found in his mum’s studio, it has been a long time since he’s done anything like this with Sarah, who, Steve remembers, always seemed to be the art teacher at whatever school he attended.
“It was a lot of fun to work with her and we really hadn’t spent time alone together in years,” Steve reflected. “Usually we see each other at family functions, holidays, get togethers and things like that, when there are lots of people around. I genuinely can’t remember the last time we spent time alone together, working, talking and it was a really nice experience.”
Though both admit that they could have done with more time, they have done an extraordinary job in creating what is a unique, highly collective and totally collaborative work of art. Sarah certainly thinks so.
“It’s been a wonderful experience collaborating on this project with my son too,” Steve’s mum commented in an email to Fiona McKinstrie, director of communications for The Faberge Big Egg Hunt.
“His design really made it possible to complete in two days. Loving the way the whole event makes the city come alive in spring in a really celebratory way, putting that dreadful winter past us.”
The Untitled egg, which is currently on show in the Rockefeller Center New York, has, at the time of writing, attracted an amazing 20 bids on Paddle8, taking its tally to an fantastic $1,900. All money raised by the sale of this egg and others will go towards Studio in a School and the Elephant Family.

Big Egg Hunt – All Wrapped Up

Cadogan Tate was recently involved in one of New York’s largest ever egg hunts and the subsequent auction that raised more than $3.6 million for two very worthy causes.
Fabergé’s Big Egg Hunt took place in New York city during April and showcased 283 unique egg shaped sculptures that were designed and decorated by some of the biggest names in the art world including Jeff Koons, Tracey Emin, Bruce Weber and Zaha Hadid. 36 of the 283 sculptures were displayed on the 7th floor of Sotheby’s New York and auctioned by Paddle8 on 22nd April, with the highest bid of the evening being placed on the egg designed by Jeff Koons, a staggering $900,000.
The remaining eggs were sold via an online auction, also hosted by Paddle8, which added to the grand total raised to benefit Studio in a School and Elephant Family.
Elephant Family exists to save the iconic elephant from extinction in the wild, along with tigers, orangutans and all the other animals that share their habitat. Working with local people and partner NGOs, they currently fund 20 projects across Asia and invest where needed most: to protect habitat, prevent conflict and reconnect the forest homes of the endangered Asian elephant.
The other beneficiary of the Fabergé Big Egg Hunt was Studio in a School, who for 37 years has been teaching visual arts to hundreds of thousands of New York City children in under-served public schools, daycare centers, and community-based organisations. From April 1 to April 26, egg hunters in New York took to social media to show off their finds in a race to ‘collect’ the most eggs and be in with a chance of winning one of three unique Fabergé precious gemstone pendants, with a combined value of over $125,000 . The hunt also utilised a smart phone App which included an interactive map, real-time information feeds with updates and clues, and a virtual egg basket for the hunter’s eggs.
Cadogan Tate was named as the Official Transport Partner for the event, and as such, was responsible for the transportation and installation of the egg sculptures. Cadogan Tate’s Stephen McHugh teamed up with his mother, Sarah McHugh – a prominent New York artist to design the international removal company’s contribution – an egg-shaped wooden shipping crate, similar to those used for fine art shipping.
Managing Director of Cadogan Tate Fine Art, Graham Enser, announced his top three favourite eggs from the event as Jeff Koons, Zaha Hadid and Marc Quinn. He also commented: “I have been travelling to New York for over 30 years, so Benjamin Shine’s piece composed of New York Street names takes me on a trip down memory lane (a long trip at that!) Obviously the Cadogan Tate contribution made by a member of staff and his artist mother fills me with pride“.

Construction of Cadogan Tate’s egg for the Fabergé Big Egg Hunt

There’s no denying the power of artistic collaboration, particularly when it’s between mother and son. Cadogan Tate’s resident egg artist, Stephen McHugh teamed up with his mother, Sarah – a prominent New York artist (see mchughstudio.com), for the first time in years to produce the Cadogan Tate egg for the Fabergé Big Egg Hunt.
Renowned for its shipping and fine art handling expertise, it seemed only natural for Stephen to design the egg to replicate a wooden shipping crate, similar to those used when shipping fine art.
Given just four days to create something spectacular, Stephen initially struggled to take direction with his creation and called upon carpenter and furniture restorer, Seamus Fairtlough for his advice on how to bend wood around a large, fibreglass egg.
Seemingly impossible, the two stuck it out for a couple of days before they were successful. Steve said: “I found a supplier nearby, bought a bunch of lengths and we started playing around, with Seamus helping me, to figure how to get it around the egg.”
Having crossed the first hurdle, Stephen’s next challenge was to give the blank egg a wooden aesthetic. He immediately decided his mum; Sarah McHugh would be the best person for the job. Stephen commented: “I sprung it on her real last minute, asking her how she felt about painting an egg to look like wood… she had no idea what I was talking about.”
Sarah, like the best of mums was only too happy to assist. Having a partner helped Stephen to stay motivated and enjoy the project on a more personal level. He commented: “It was a lot of fun to work with her and we really hadn’t spent time alone together in years. Usually we see each other at family functions, holidays, get togethers and things like that, when there are lots of people around. I genuinely can’t remember the last time we spent time alone together, working, talking and it was a really nice experience.”
This creative collaboration enabled Stephen to stretch his creation, re-connect artistically with his mum and pushed the design to new heights. The pair have done a remarkable job in creating a unique and highly collective (‘egg-cellent’) work of art. Sarah really enjoyed teaming up with her son too, commenting: “It’s been a wonderful experience collaborating on this project with my son. His design really made it possible to complete in two days.”
Stephen and Sarah’s egg has now taken pride of place in an iconic location in New York City (we won’t spoil it for those participating in the egg hunt, so if you are in New York please download the smartphone app and get hunting!) If you are not able to get to New York, please visit the Fabergé Big Egg Hunt website or the Paddle8 auction site, where all the eggs (including the Cadogan Tate egg) are being sold in aid of Studio in a School and Elephant Family.

Installing an Egg Hunt

Cadogan Tate is very proud to be the official logistics partner for the Fabergé Big Egg Hunt in New York, and has been responsible for the storage, transportation and installation of hundreds of specially designed eggs, all in aid of Studio in a School and Elephant Family.
In the first part of our two-part conversation with Cadogan Tate’s NY VP of Business Development and resident egg artist, Stephen McHugh we find out about his personal highlights of installing the collection of nearly 270 eggs.
Are there any eggs in particular that stand out as favourites for you and the team?
My favourite egg is actually the one by Chris Carnabuci (see it here). Chris also built all the wooden plinths for the event. His egg is absolutely beautiful. And of course the Koons egg is an incredible work of precision (see Jeff Koons’ egg here).
Which were the most challenging eggs to move?
The most difficult egg to deal with was the one by Ira de Furstenberg. The website says it’s 400lbs, but we had to use a gantry just to lift it out of the crate – so we estimated that it is probably closer to 800lbs, at least.
How long did the whole transport and installation process take?
We had more than 30 men and 14 trucks working around the clock for 3 days to get them installed in time.
If you are in New York, be sure to download the official Fabergé Big Egg Hunt app for your smartphone to “collect” eggs and enter a sweepstake for a chance to win a Fabergé jewel-encrusted egg pendant. For more details visit thebigegghunt.org or visit the Paddle8 auction page, where all the eggs are being sold in aid of Studio in a School and Elephant Family – both of which are very worthwhile causes.