Tintin cover sold in Paris for record 1.3 million euros

Tintin en Amérique, original Hergé painting

Artcurial

By RFI

A rare 1932 cover illustration of Tintin in America was sold for a record 1.3 million euros at an auction in Paris on Saturday. Belgian comic book artist Hergé painted the India ink and gouache colour cover for the first edition of the comic book, which first appeared in 1934.

"The work has been sold at 1,338,509.20 euros, costs included, by a person who wishes to remain anonymous," a spokesperson for the auctioneers, Artcurial, told the AFP news agency.

Like secrets? Find out about the Hidden Paris

The previous owner had bought it for the previous record in the comic book field, 764,218 euros, in 2008.

Saturday’s sale was part of a larger sale of Tintin-related memorabilia, featuring work by Hergé (1907-1983), whose real name was Georges Rémi.

In February a Belgian court refused to ban the sale of Tintin in the Congo, rejecting a complaint from a Congolese man, Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo, that it was filled with racist stereotypes about Africans.

Last year, film director Steven Spielberg released a 3D film, Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn and is already planning a sequel.