A rare original drawing of Tintin from the comic book album ‘Tintin in America’ sold for 7,53,000 ($7,98,000) on Saturday in Paris, the Artcurial auction house said. The 21x15 cm (8.2 x 5.9 inch) China ink drawing by the Belgian cartoonist known as Herge, one of four colour plates of the 1937 edition of the book, was valued at between 6,00,000 and 7,00,000.
The drawing, sold with its colour overlay, shows the intrepid boy reporter, revolver in hand, standing on the running board of a speeding taxi chasing evil-doers on the streets of Chicago.
Today’s price almost surpassed the record-setting price of 7,70,600 for another Herge drawing sold in 2015, Eric leroy, a comic books expert at Artcurial, told AFP.
“This proves the market stability of Herge,” leroy said. “Collectors are always interested in very beautiful pieces, which was the case (today). This drawing with its colour overlay really has the quality of a museum piece.” A “European buyer” walked away with the winning bid, Artcurial said in a statement, adding that more than 80 per cent of the items up for auction found buyers.