On May 24 and 25, 2014, Artcurial dedicated an entire weekend to comics. This event sale included nearly 1,000 lots and totaled 7.46 million euros. It was marked by a succession of records.
This is the biggest comic book sale ever, and the highest ever for a comic book sale. With a majority of young buyers, bidders from all over the world and more than 200 lots purchased over the Internet, this sale illustrates the dynamism and modernity of the comics market.
The first record was set on Saturday, May 24, with the cover pages of albums from the adventures of Tintin, published from 1937 to 1958, signed by Hergé (estimate: €700,000 – €900,000). Sold for €2,654,400, this original comic strip drawing is the most expensive in the world. It went to an American collector. Kicking off this eagerly-awaited sale in a packed room, this exceptional Indian ink drawing from 1937 attracted the interest of many buyers in the room and on the telephone. Nearly 300 people registered on the Artcurial Live Bid platform to follow and bid live online. After a bidding battle lasting over 15 minutes between 4 buyers, Artcurial’s previous world comic book record was broken.
This 1937 drawing presents Tintin and Snowy in 34 situations, each one linked to a high point in an album. These cover pages were published in albums of Tintin’s adventures from 1937 to 1958. An important detail cherished by collectors and fans alike: Hergé drew these heroes at the North Pole for an album that never saw the light of day.
Among the outstanding lots in this first part of the sale, dedicated to the world of Tintin’s creator, was the Chinese ink drawing for the cover of the album LÎle noire, which sold for €1,011,200 (estimate: €600,000 – €700,000), and the coloring for the cover of the same album, which fetched €101,100 (estimate: €70,000 – €90,000). The 5-metre-high rocket, inspired by the album On a marché sur la Lune and created for the 1992 Universal Exhibition in Seville, fetched €82,200 (estimate: €30,000 – 50,000). It was on display in Artcurial’s courtyard on the Champs Elysées throughout May.
The second part of the sale, on Sunday May 25, offered an anthology of 20th-century comics. Two records were again set: the record for a Hugo Pratt set, with the 25 plates of the Corto Maltese – Et in Helvetia Corto set fetching €695,200 (estimate: €600,000 – €700,000); and the record for a work by Paul Cuvelier, with the original drawing Les extraordinaires aventures de Corentin selling for €65,000 (estimate: €25,000 – €35,000). Works by contemporary artists also maintained their value in this sector, with Enki Bilal’s Bleu Sang – Jill Bioskop et Alcide Nikopol selling for €158,000 (estimate: €80,000 – €100,000), and Partie de chasse registering the record for a plate from this album with a bid of €97,300 (estimate: €70,000 – €90,000).
Finally, it’s worth mentioning the dream element that still has its place in this dynamic, modern market, with collectors often driven by childhood nostalgia or the pleasure of being transported to another universe by a drawing.
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