PARIS.- As part of the Tintin auction, L’univers du créateur de Tintin, taking place on 19th November, the Artcurial Comic Strip department will offer an historic set of twenty China ink drawings by Hergé from the ‘cartes neige’ series.

The drawings which were ordered by a Belgian publisher, specialising in post cards and calendars, were used to illustrate the commercial coloured cards at the end of 1942 and early 1943 for Christmas and New Year greetings. The cards are considered as the first Tintin adventures marketing product to reach out to a larger public.

The entire collection is estimated between 1,2 and 2,4 M€. The drawings are being sold one by one and some come with the original matching Christmas card.

True leaders in the field, Artcurial has decided to reveal this exceptional collection in Hong Kong in October where the auction house previously organised Asia’s first European Comic Strip auction. The actual sale will later take place in Paris at the same time as the Hergé exhibition, on show at the Grand Palais.

“It is particularly rare to find original Hergé creations from the 1940s, very few are up for auction nowadays. These twenty drawings have been carefully preserved within a private collection. Once again, we are thrilled to be able to offer original Tintin drawings at auction to French and international collectors.” ---Eric Leroy, Expert Comic Strips, Artcurial

Made using the rotogravure printing process, the seasonal greeting cards were largely diffused and adapted commercially with texts in French and Dutch. The bilingual cards are estimated at 8 000 - 12 000 € / 8 800 - 13 200 $.

In the 1940s, the ‘clear line’ takes readers on new adventures. Hergé longed to draw without any boundaries and add depth and character to Tintin, Milou and the other key figures of his comics. During this intense period, the illustrator produced his greatest adventures including Le Secret de la Licorne, Le Trésor de Rackham le Rouge and Les 7 Boules de cristal. In 1941, the character, Captain Haddock appears in the album Le Crabe aux pinces d’or alongside the Dupondts and from this date became part of the Tintin universe.

For Hergé the ‘carte neige’ series represent a personal pleasure and an amusing distraction from his routine. Each card is a surprise and tells a small story: Tintin and Milou discover the pleasure of the mountain, sledging and skiing, decorating the Christmas tree. Les Dupondts are as clumsy as ever, whether it be on skis or ice-skates.

Snow is the key feature in these compositions and establishes the ‘clear line’ trademark.

These extremely rare drawings demonstrate high quality (the clear lines are a sign of experience) and the creations date back to Hergé’s most important and sought after period. Collectors will remember that the second half of the 1930s marked his meeting with Edgar P. Jacobs, the realisation of Temple du Soleil and the first years of the Tintin journal which opened a new chapter.

Each drawing is estimated at 60 000 - 120 000 € / 66 000 - 132 000 $.