“This cover will end up spilling more ink than Hergé used for his drawing…” The funny phrase comes out of the mouth of Benoît Peeters, screenwriter and great specialist in the universe of Tintin.
It sums up pretty well the enthusiasm but also the questions surrounding an exceptional auction.
On November 21, the Artcurial house will go under the hammer for a preparatory drawing, produced by Tintin's father in 1936, for the cover of the “Blue Lotus”.
A comic book masterpiece, a unique piece, estimated at between 2 and 3 million euros, has enough to turn heads.
The story, not to say the affair, begins on July 15 when Artcurial announces, in a press release, having "rediscovered" the cover "lost to sight for 80 years".
"It was offered by Hergé in person to the young son of the publisher Louis Casterman who, not suspecting from the height of his seven years the future inestimable value of this treasure, keeps this drawing in a drawer after having carefully folded it in six. .
It is now in a good state of preservation since it had not seen the light for more than 80 years ”, continues the text.
A fictionalized story
The story, widely relayed, is enticing.
But, according to all experts, it is to say the least widely fictionalized.
“I know this drawing very well since I myself exhibited it in Brussels, Angoulême and Paris, during the event organized for Tintin's 60th birthday in 1988, Benoît Peeters immediately corrects.
It had been lent to us by its owner Jean-Paul Casterman
(Editor's note: died in 2009)
and has been restored for the occasion.
But it was not his first outing.
In 1981, when the real Tchang (Editor's note: the little Chinese hero of the “Blue Lotus”) came to Paris for his reunion with Hergé, it was used to print lithographs, autographed by the two men and offered as gifts to personalities ”.
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QUIZ.
Tintin is 90 years old, do you know him well?
On the Artcurial side, the sales expert, Eric Leroy, recognizes that the press release was undoubtedly "written a little quickly" and confirms the existence of previous appearances of the work.
On the other hand, he insists on good provenance.
“I myself met Jean-Paul Casterman in the 1990s,” he recalls.
It was he who told me how Hergé had given him the drawing and that he had folded it in six to store it in a drawer, like a little treasure.
This is not the only gift Hergé has given in his career.
I think he wanted to please his new boss's son, since it was the first album released by Casterman.
Hergé was very proud to join this great publishing house ”
Here again, Benoît Peeters, author of several reference books on Tintin's father, has some doubts.
"I don't really believe in the little boy's fable," he smiles.
Contrary to what we often think, Hergé was quite concerned with his drawings.
When he gave a gift, he usually dedicated it.
I simply believe that the drawing remained in the printing press after the technical tests and that this is how it ended up in this branch of the Casterman family.
"
According to some, its place is at the Hergé Museum
A feeling visibly shared by Nick Rodwell, husband of Hergé's widow and in charge of managing the inheritance.
Because, new episode in this sale, the latter claims purely and simply, in the columns of the Belgian daily "Le Soir", that the heirs of Jean-Paul Casterman, at the origin of these auctions, "give him the drawing because his place est au Musée Hergé ”… For him, in the absence of proof of the gift in Hergé's correspondence or dedication, the pieces put up for sale are“ generally originals which have not been returned to the author or that were stolen.
"
In 34 x 34 format, Hergé made his drawing in India ink, watercolor and gouache./null Hergé Moulinsart 2020
In this strange atmosphere, almost everyone however agrees on one point.
In 34 x 34 format, the drawing, made in India ink, gouache and watercolor, finally refused because it was too expensive to print for the cover of the “Blue Lotus”, is an extraordinary piece.
“It's the absolute holy grail for any comic book collector.
But beyond that, it is for me a masterpiece of the history of art.
There is all the talent of Hergé but also all his sensitivity.
Moreover, I think that any lover of contemporary art would be delighted to hang it at home, ”says Eric Leroy, the sales expert.
“It is one of Hergé's most beautiful drawings.
And an incomparable piece, also notes Benoît Peeters.
I find the estimate to be quite normal ”.
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The drawing of the first cover of Tintin sold for 1.1 million dollars
Let's talk about the price: between 2 and 3 million euros.
Many already agree that “The blue lotus” could beat the previous record for a comic book sale, with 2.6 million euros disbursed in 2014 for the double cover page of Tintin's first albums.
What then, to still flow a lot of ink.