A black and white Tintin drawing has broken all records by selling for €1.55m (£1.33m; $1.64m). The original pen and ink from the book Explorers on the Moon was created by the Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, better known as Herge. It had been estimated to fetch between €700,000-900,000 before the sale.
The late Belgian artist already holds the world record for the sale of a comic strip. A double-page drawing that was the inside cover used in all Tintin adventures published from 1937 to 1958 sold for €2.6 million two years ago.
It depicts Tintin, his loveable dog Snowy and Captain Haddock wearing spacesuits and walking on the moon while gazing at the Earth. The highly collectable artwork sold today at the Artcurial auction house in Paris.
The 50x35cm drawing also set a world record for a post-war work by the artist sold at auction. The drawing was bought by a European collector. The 1954 book is regarded as one of Herge’s masterpieces. “It is one of the most important from Herge’s postwar period, on the same level as Tintin in Tibet and The Castafiore Emerald,” Artcurial’s comics expert Eric Leroy said.
Tintin is one of the most loved comic book characters ever created. It has been translated into 90 languages and has sold in excess of 200 million copies, worldwide. The cartoon series remain popular crossing many generations.
Tintin will soon reach 87 years old, a fact hard to believe. Ever since 10 January 1929, the day when together they took the train to the Soviet Union, the renowned reporter and his inseparable sidekick Snowy have surrendered nothing of their timeless appeal.Tintin’s adventures retain their same old magnetic power unabated. Reprinted and published in ever greater numbers, the books are a source of inspiration for artists, writers, producers, and directors. Tintin personifies all of the universal values that are a mirror to everyone’s own aspirations. Eternally youthful, the indefatigable reporter continues to conquer the world with unflagging, never-failing vitality.