Drawing of Tintin sells for US$1.2m

Source: AFP | October 6, 2015, Tuesday |  PRINT EDITION
A RARE drawing of comic book hero Tintin by Belgian cartoonist Herge yesterday fetched more than US$1 million at an auction in Hong Kong.
The artwork is an illustration from the cartoonist’s “The Blue Lotus” book, published in 1936, which sees Tintin and sidekick Snowy the dog on an adventure in Shanghai.
It sold for HK$9.6 million (US$1.2 million) and French auction house Artcurial said it had been bought by an Asian collector.
Drawn in monochrome, it shows Tintin being pulled along a street in a rickshaw with a policeman looking on.
The drawing is the only original from the book to remain in private hands with the rest in museums, Artcurial said.
“‘The Blue Lotus’ is considered by specialists as the masterpiece album of Herge,” said Eric Leroy, Artcurial’s expert in comic strips.
“The design and drawing of Herge had become mature ... It was also unusual to talk about China in the thirties in Europe,” he said.
The piece had been predicted to sell at between HK$8.6 million and HK$13 million.
The record for a Tintin piece was set by a 1937 comic strip sold at an auction in Paris in May for US$3.4 million.
It was bought by an American collector.
Despite a downturn in the Chinese economy which some fear will dent the region’s burgeoning art market, auction houses in Hong Kong say they are still optimistic that rare pieces will sell.
It is the first time Artcurial has held an auction in the southern Chinese city, which has become an art hub for Asia.
Source: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/national/Drawing-of-Tintin-sells-for-US12m/shdaily.shtml

Rare drawing of Tintin in Shanghai sells for $1.2m in HK

  • 6 Oct 2015
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  • From the sectionAsia
The monochrome picture that sold in Hong Kong on MondayImage copyrightHergé-Moulinsart 2015
Image captionSince the first book in 1929, Tintin stories have been translated into more than 70 languages
A rare drawing of comic book adventurer Tintin has sold for 9.6 million Hong Kong dollars ($1.2m) at an auction in Hong Kong.
The drawing, by Belgian cartoonist Herge, is from his book The Blue Lotus, set in Shanghai.
French auction house Artcurial organised the auction.
They said the work was the only original from the book still in private hands, and had been bought by an Asian collector.
"The Blue Lotus is considered by specialists as the masterpiece album of Herge," said Eric Leroy, Artcurial's expert in comics.
"It was also unusual to talk about China in the thirties in Europe," he added.
The auction house also facilitated the record-breaking sale of a hand-drawn Tintin In America cover for 2.65 million euros (about $3m) including fees - 1.3m euros without - in Paris in May.
Tintin comic booksImage copyrightGetty Images
Image captionIn Herge's books, boy journalist Tintin and his canine sidekick Snowy get involved in scrapes and escapades all around the world

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