A black and white drawing of Tintin fetched a hefty €2,158,000 ($2.3m, with fees) at Artcurial auction house in Paris last week, proving once again that the eponymous Belgian boy detective still has commercial and popular appeal.
The work—drawn using Indian ink, graphite, and blue pencil—sets the world record for the most valuable original black and white drawing by the Belgian illustrator Hergé (born Georges Remi). The drawing, Tintin in America (1942), was used for the colour edition of the Belgian cartoonist’s 1946 book of the same name. Apparently, the former French president, General de Gaulle, once declared “my only international rival is Tintin”, pitting himself against the quiffy cartoon character.
Artcurial has form with Tintin works; a rejected Tintin cover sold for €3.2m ($3.8m, with buyer’s premium) at the auction house early 2021, setting a world record for a comic book work of art (est €2.2m-€2.8m). The 1936 watercolour and gouache painting shows the boy detective Tintin and his dog Snowy hiding in a porcelain jar.