Milles sabords as Captain Haddock would have said…
Art collecting is not all about old masters, statues, animals in various states or other provocations as the recent auction at Artcurial (March 29) proves.
An AFP news brief, Blistering Barnacles! Tintin artwork fetches record price, reports how the original oil painting for the cover of Tintin in America managed to be sold for $1.2 Million (764,200 Euros).
A previous auction in November 2007 offered a number of other items (including a preliminary sketch for the cover to Les Bijous De La Castafiore) as highlighted by Tintin auction exceeds expectations (Forbidden Planet).
Fan of Tintin but cannot afford such bids, get your fill of Tintin trivia, as well as estimates on your own Tintin collection pieces thanks to Tintinologist (English language fan site).
It seems that there is an alternative cover for Tintin in America from what I saw in their pages (the top illustration)…
I could see any of these in my new living room.
Of Artcurial upcoming auctions, I could settle for Fernand Leger, La Plante (the plant, 1945), minimum asking price 350,000 Euros. Interessed, it is Lot 21 of the Modern Art sale taking place on April 9 in Paris at Hotel Dassault. The catalogue also includes Utrillo, Braque, Magritte and Chagall to name a few.
I am moving today (only a few blocks away).
Related: ‘Tintin’, Hergé Centennial Show at Pompidou Center in Paris