Tintin's Blue Lotus Cover at Auction by Artcurial

The “Blue Lotus” is one of Hergé's masterpieces. The album marks a turning point in his creation. BELGA via AFP
The “Blue Lotus” is one of Hergé's masterpieces. The album marks a turning point in his creation. BELGA via AFP
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Tintin's Blue Lotus Cover at Auction by Artcurial

The “Blue Lotus” is one of Hergé's masterpieces. The album marks a turning point in his creation. BELGA via AFP
The “Blue Lotus” is one of Hergé's masterpieces. The album marks a turning point in his creation. BELGA via AFP

The Artcurial auction house has sold eight of Hergé's great Tintin paintings for record prices, including one sold in 2014 for $3.6 million. The house is expected to break a new record on January 14 with another Tintin drawing. It is auctioning a 1936 cover drawn by Hergé for one of Tintin's volumes entitled "The Blue Lotus."

According to AFP, the cover is expected to fetch over two million euros.

The "masterpiece" features Tintin in a Chinese costume, emerging from a jar in front of a menacing dragon.

The amazing cover made with Indian ink, watercolor, and gouache, will likely break the last record price fetched by another Tintin drawing in 2014.

The Blue Lotus cover is one of the Belgian artist's greatest pieces, and was considered a turning point in his journey. It was published in 1934-1935 in the "Petit-Vingtième" magazine before the official release of the album in 1936.

Georges Rémi, known as Hergé, fell for China after he met Tchang Tchong-Jen, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium, and they became friends for life.

The painting wasn't selected for the cover of "The Blue Lotus" because it was judged too expensive to reproduce by the publisher, which ultimately used a simplified version of the same scene.

But, this work, displayed in an online auction due to the pandemic restrictions, has raised many question marks. According to the owners, heirs of the Tintin publisher Louis Casterman, the drawing on sale was given as a present by Hergé to Casterman's son (seven years old at the time).

It is believed that the kid folded the drawing and kept it in a drawer for decades.

However, experts are skeptical about this story. Philippe Goddin, professional expert of Tintin, says the story of Jean-Paul Casterman (who died in 2019) about receiving this painting as a gift is "very doubtful."

He suggests the folding marks on the drawing because Hergé placed it in an envelope before sending it to the magazine's vice president.



Lightning at a Zoo in France Leaves Woman in Critical Condition

FILE - A view of Marseille, France, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)
FILE - A view of Marseille, France, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)
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Lightning at a Zoo in France Leaves Woman in Critical Condition

FILE - A view of Marseille, France, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)
FILE - A view of Marseille, France, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)

A lightning strike at a zoo in southern France on Wednesday left a German woman in critical condition, a fire service said.

The Bouches-du-Rhone region fire service said another 12 people were slightly injured, four of them children. They had gathered during a rainstorm at the La Barben animal park, north of Marseille.

According to The Associated Press, the service said no animals were hit.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether anyone was struck directly. The service said the lightning appeared to strike the ground first. It said some people had sore ears and eyes.

It said it had no immediate details about the German woman's injuries.

The zoo didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.