Tintin Forums

Sotheby's in Paris are having a comics and BD auction today in which there are several great Hergé lots (this almost slipped under my radar, as I think I was confusing it with the Christie's auction next weekend).

Anyway, it is underway as I type, and is available to watch on-line by registering on the Sotheby's web-site.

They have already sold some Carl Barks and Ted Benoît pages which looked very nice - they show you the bidding, the pages and and a live stream of the auctioneer.

You will need a credit card to register on the site, but they don't charge you, you don't have to bid, and no money will be taken from your card.

Results are in, and the day seems to have gone very well.

The Hergé lots sold for the following prices.

Lot 121. Portrait of an Ostend Fisherman (1930 or 31 - the catalogue gives both dates) 6,250€
122. Pencil sketches of Germaine Remi - standing figures on one side, profile head portrait on the other - Unsold
123. Pen and ink cover art for 5th anniversary edition of Le Petit Vigtième, Nº49, 15/12/1938, with rough sketch in pencil on reverse for cover design of Tintin magazine Nº39 26/09/1951 - 453,000€ (well it is (almost) two covers! ;-) )
124. Pen and ink art for p.102 of original black and white King Ottokar's Sceptre - 327,000€
125. Pencil art for p.25 of The Castafiore Emerald - 183,000€

A statue of Tintin and Snowy by Nat Neujean (similar to the one at the CBBD in Brussels, I think) sold for an astonishing 261,000, well above the estimate.

A further lot, a sketch by Bob De Moor of Hergé dressed as Tintin and carrying a suitcase, based on an earlier Hergé piece of Tintin in the same pose, also failed to reach its reserve price, and did not sell.

There were many other fine lots, from luminaries such as Carl Barks, Will Eisner, Albert Uderzo, Morris, Greg, Hugo Pratt and Jacques Martin, to name but a few, and the total figure for the entire sale as 3,821,947€.