Original artwork for Tintin comic book auctioned for $1.2 million in ParisMay 2, 2016 - 13:33 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The orginal artwork for the last two pages of the Tintin comic book "King Ottokar's Sceptre" sold for a total of 1.046 million euros ($1.2 million) at auction Saturday, April 30 in Paris, AFP reports. "This is only the second time a Tintin plate has exceeded a million euros," Eric Leroy, comic book expert at French auction house Artcurial, told AFP. A double page plate also from "King Ottokar's Sceptre" sold for more than 1.5 million euros at Sotheby's in Paris in October. Artcurial had estimated Saturday's lot would fetch between 600,000 and 800,000 euros, before fees. "Over a million euros, this is an excellent result," said Leroy. "Herge's universe still conquers," added Leroy, referring to the cartoonist behind the famous comic. The work in blue watercolor, gouache and ink was bought on the phone "by a European collector, a long-time fan", said Leroy. Published in 1939, "King Ottokar's Sceptre" is the eighth instalment of the adventures of the intrepid boy reporter by the Belgian artist Herge. Intended by Herge as criticism of Nazi Germany, Tintin helps thwart a plot to overthrow the king of a fictional Central European country which is threatened by an aggressive neighbour. Tintin works are becoming increasingly popular with collectors. An ink drawing for the cover pages of the Tintin books published from 1937 to 1958 was sold for 2.65 million euros by Artcurial in 2014, a world record. Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. U.S. welcomes efforts to define Armenia-Azerbaijan border The United States welcomes efforts to define the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, says Vedant Patel. Biden honors resilience of Armenian people on April 24 U.S. President Joe Biden has issued a statement on the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. |