PARIS.- Artcurial held its traditional sale of Comic Strips on Saturday 23 May, with François Tajan on the rostrum. The auction, divided into two parts (The World of Tintin and Classic and Contemporary Comic Strips), realised 3 119 964 € / 3 431 960 $ and established seven new world records for the auction house, including a world record auction price for a work by Jean Roba.

Eric Leroy, Artcurial’s Comic Strip expert declared: « The market is becoming more and more selective and this sale confirmed that superb and rare pieces make record prices : Hergé of course, but Jean Roba, André Franquin, Jean-Claude Mézières, Joann Sfar and Hugo Pratt also illustrate this trend. »

PART 1: 1,7 M€ / 1,9 M$ FOR THE WORLD OF TINTIN’S CREATOR
French and international collectors assembled at 11.00 for the first part of the sale, dedicated to the world of Tintin’s creator. This exceeded its estimate, realising 1 700 973 € / 1 871 070 $, with foreign buyers accounting for 88% of the sale total.

Original drawings by Hergé are always highly sought after. These 12 lots alone made 932 832 € / 1 026 115 $. Notably, the original drawing for the title page of Tintin au Congo (lot 76) sold for five times its estimate at 189 600 € / 229 416 $.

The enthusiasm of Tintinophiles continued unabated. Albums, objects from collections and lithographs were particularly in demand. This was the case, for example, for the lithograph taken from a plate for the album On a marché sur la lune (lot 59), signed by six of the Apollo Mission astronauts, that sold for 40 400 € / 44 440 $, double its estimate.

PART 2 : 1,4 M€ / 1,5 M$ FOR CLASSIC AND CONTEMPORARY COMIC STRIPS
The sale was a great tribute to Jean Roba (1930-2006) and the four very rare colour illustrations for Boule et Bill all found new owners. Des rails sur la moquette, created for a puzzle by Golden Games, prompted a fierce bidding battle, selling for double its estimate at 75 800 € / 83 380 $ (lot 482), while Jeux Olympiques, Du vent dans les oreilles (lot 484), and Sunset garden (lot 485), also exceeded their estimates, the first two selling for 41 700 € / 45 870 $ and the third 40 400 € / 44 440 $.

Work by André Franquin attracted huge interest with the spectacular plate for Voyageur du Mésozoïque fetching 189 600 € / 208 560 $ (lot 314) and two Gaston Lagaffe strips in an exciting graphic style, flying to 800 € / 104 280 $. Excellent prices were also achieved for a superb plate by Jean-Claude Mézières, Valérian, Les cercles du pouvoir, which sold for 26 500 € / 29 150 $ (lot 432), and for Hugo Pratt with a plate from the iconic Corto Maltese, La fable de Venise, that changed hands for 50 600 € / 55 660 $ (lot 467).

Finally, the cover drawing for the 6th volume of Le Chat du rabbin, tu n'auras pas d'autres dieux que moi, by Joann Sfar, set to appear in September 2015 from Editions, sold for 44 200 € / 48 620 $ (lot 497).