Rare Tintin comic set to fetch over $400,000 at auction in Paris

Record ID: 1432957

  • Title: Rare Tintin comic set to fetch over $400,000 at auction in Paris
  • Date: 18th September 2019
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 9, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ORIGINAL STRIPS DRAWN BY TINTIN CREATOR HERGE FROM THE 1942 TINTIN COMIC "THE MYSTERIOUS STAR", WHICH ARE BEING AUCTIONED IN PARIS ON SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 VARIOUS OF HEAD OF THE HERGE DEPARTMENT AT PIASA AUCTION HOUSE, WHICH WILL AUCTION THE COMIC, DORA BLARY, HANGING THE COMIC ON THE WALL (SOUNDBITE) (French) HEAD OF THE HERGE DEPARTMENT AT PIASA AUCTION HOUSE, DORA BLARY, SAYING: "It's valued at between 300,000 and 400,000 euros. That is because of the subject firstly, which is the end of the world, in a time where global warming is at the centre of current events. And then there's the famous scene with the rats and Tintin on the lamp post." PANEL SHOWING TINTIN ESCAPING RATS BY CLIMBING A LAMP POST (SOUNDBITE) (French) HEAD OF THE HERGE DEPARTMENT AT PIASA AUCTION HOUSE, DORA BLARY, SAYING: "And especially there is another little anecdote which goes with it. There are these tiny dots of blood, they're dots of Herge's blood, he injured himself with a compass, and the previous owner never wanted to remove them, because it's part of the piece's charm." BLARY POINTING OUT SPOTS OF BLOOD ON THE COMIC STRIP SPOTS OF BLOOD ON PANEL WITH RATS RUNNING (SOUNDBITE) (French) HEAD OF THE HERGE DEPARTMENT AT PIASA AUCTION HOUSE, DORA BLARY, SAYING: "I knew that it was something very emotional, for people who love it and are passionate. There is a generation of people who grew up with it and who discovered the real Herge, with his level of art, because it's really drawing, it's something original and it's a piece of their childhood that they'll be buying." PANEL FROM THE COMIC FEATURING TINTIN CALLING TO HIS DOG SNOWY (MILOU IN FRENCH)
  • Embargoed: 2nd October 2019 16:02
  • Keywords: Tintin comic auction Paris
  • Location: PARIS, FRANCE
  • City: PARIS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA001AX6QQ1L
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: An original Tintin comic strip by Herge from 1942 is expected to sell for up to 400,000 euros ($442,000) at auction in Paris on Wednesday (September 18).
    An artwork comprised of three strips from the comic "The Mysterious Star" will go on sale at the Piasa auction house in the French capital.
    The work, drawn in Chinese ink, was the first design in a new format for the Tintin comics to be printed on thinner sheets due to a wartime shortage of paper supplies.
    The buyer will receive an extra perk: Herge's blood, which dripped on the comic strip after the artist injured himself with a compass at his drawing desk.
    Tintin has already broken world record sales for a comic - a page from the 1954 book 'Explorers on the Moon' fetched 1.55 million euros ($1.71 million USD) at auction in 2016.
    At a Paris auction in 2017, an original drawing from the 1939 "King Ottokar's Sceptre" and the 1941 "The Shooting Star" sold for 505,000 euros ($557,000 USD) and 381,800 euros ($421,000 USD) respectively.
    (Production: Kathryn Carlson, Antony Paone)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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