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Paris, France
A Tintin drawing by the Belgian artist Herge sold Thursday in Paris for 3.175 million euros ($3.86 million), breaking the record for the most expensive comic book art in history.
The painting is the work of Belgian illustrator Georges Remi, better known by his nom de plume Herge, who was the author of the Tintin comic books. He died in 1983.
The 1936 work in Chinese ink, gouache and watercolour was destined as a cover for ''The Blue Lotus,'' the fifth volume of the adventures of Tintin, according to the Artcurial auction house, which conducted the sale.
The work features a red dragon on a black background by the frightened character's face. It never graced store shelves because it was deemed too expensive to reproduce on a wide scale, a victim of the artist's craftsmanship.
In the pre-World War album, Tintin travels to China during the 1931 Japanese invasion with his dog, Snowy, to investigate and expose Japanese spy networks, drug-smuggling rings and other crimes.
Herge's publisher rejected the painting, and a different Herge image was used for the cover.
The illustrator gave the rejected image as a gift for Jean-Louis Casterman, heir to the publishing house that published the Tintin books.
The painting was kept by Casterman, folded in a drawer. Until his death, he declined offers to sell the work, saying he treasured it as a gift from Herge, according to Eric Leroy, a comic book expert at Artcurial.
"It's the most beautiful item that's on the market in private hands," Leroy said before the sale.
The 3.2 million euro sale price is before the auctioneer's fees are added. The buyer was a private collector, whom the auction house did not identify.
The record price set at Thursday's sale organized by the Artcurial auction house did not include auction fees.
Work by Herg, whose real name was Georges Remi, previously set the record for the most expensive pieces of comic book art with the front pages of Tintin comic books that also sold for 2.6 million euros, including auction fees.