![Hergé, illustration for the cover of the original edition of ‘Le Lotus Bleu’ from 1936 [detail], India ink, watercolour and gouache on paper. Image © Artcurial / Hergé / Moulinsart 2020](https://images.prismic.io/barnebys/d3321e75-e92a-4b5d-912c-1f391074d602_Cover.jpg?auto=compress,format)
This masterpiece of the 9th art deserves this world record and confirms the excellent health of the Comic Strip market.
Long awaited by collectors since the announcement of the sale last year, an original drawing by Hergé intended for the cover of the Tintin comic Le Lotus bleu was presented at Artcurial on 14 January, during a sale entitled L’univers du créateur de Tintin (‘The Universe of the Creator of Tintin’).
Exceptional and unprecedented on the art market, the work created a stir in the room, triggering a fierce bidding battle between three buyers by telephone. The hammer finally knocked down at €3,175,400 (fees included, £2.8 mil), a historic auction which set both the record for a work by the Belgian cartoonist, and also the new record for an original work for a comic book sold at auction.
“Thanks to its unique character, this 9th art masterpiece deserves this world record and confirms the excellent health of the Comic Strip market,” said Eric Leroy, comic strip expert at Artcurial.
Too expensive to reproduce at the time because of the colouring technique used, the four-colour process, the cover was refused by the publisher Casterman in 1936. The design was then offered by Hergé in person to the son of the publisher Louis Casterman, who carefully stored it in a drawer after folding it in six.
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Intended for Tintin's fifth adventure, this cover, made in India ink and gouache, is undoubtedly one of the most evocative of the tribulations of the little reporter. Following his meeting with his new friend Chang Chong-Chen, the only real character with Al Capone to be integrated into the comics, Hergé’s line and style are more assertive.
Le Lotus bleu, published in 1936, was Tintin's first comic to be met with real success. Its solid story, built from start to finish, as well as the first colour illustrations ‘inset’ contributed to its popularity. “Hergé said that comics are above all about telling a story. Through this illustration of Le Lotus bleu, probably the most beautiful cover of Tintin's adventures, the whole atmosphere of this comic is summed up. Direct colour in Hergé's work is extremely rare,” explained Eric Leroy.
The French auction house Artcurial currently holds 8 of the 10 highest auctions for a work by Hergé, including the previous world record for a comic book drawing of all authors, won on 24 May 2014 for the first cover pages of Tintin comics, for €2.6 millions.
