Tied to a torture pole, Tintin is pointed out with a threatening finger by the chief of the Toe-tied tribe, under the gaze of two other sitting Indians. Milou, hidden behind the pole, is no more reassured than his master. This scene is Tintin’s well-known cover in America. Hergé designed it in 1942, for the last edition of the black and white album. He chose to preserve it when the story was rebuilt in 62 colour plates in 1946. It is always this cover that dresses the third volume of the Adventures of Tintin today.

On last Friday 10th February, the original drawing was awarded at 1.7 million euros (2.16 with fees). We don’t know anything about his buyer, except that he’s a Belgian. 1.7 million euros is certainly an impressive amount ; it is however below the expectations of the company Artcurial, which estimated this ink of China between 2.2 and 3.2 million euros. It must be said that the auction house was still very excited by the record reached in January 2021 by the gouache project of the cover of the Blue Lotus 2.6 million euros (3.2 fees included). The lower score of the cover of Tintin in America latest version is not really a surprise. This one does not have the aura that emanates from the composition of Hergé destined for the Chinese adventure of the reporter. Also, unlike Tintin and Milou in their potiche, the Indian scene is not enhanced by colors.

The drawing of Tintin in America had «never been offered in the sales room» before, revealed expert Éric Leroy at Le Figaro (February 6th, 2023 edition). It had belonged for more than twenty years to a Belgian collector who calls himself «Mr M.».

In the past, the comic book lover public had the chance to admire this jewel at least twice. In 2009, M. lent it for the exhibition Vraoum ! at La Maison rouge (Paris), one of whose curators was the late art critic Pierre Sterckx, a close friend of Hergé. Then, in January 2019, the Huberty & Breyne gallery (Brussels) exhibited about fifty originals from the collection of Mr M., including three covers of Hergé, including that ofAmerica. Presented as a «very enlightened amateur», the mysterious Belgian had made the decision to dispose of several of his treasures. A good part of his collection was then dispersed during a sale organized by the Coutau-Bégarie house on May 25th of the same year. We learned on this occasion that Mr. M was nicknamed «Nanette».

Unless mistake, and unless he sold them privately, Mr. M is still in possession of the two other Hergé blankets that he had exhibited in Brussels in 2019: that of the 5^th series of The Exploits of Quick and Flupke (1952), and that of La Vallée des Cobras (an adventure by Jo, Zette and Jocko, 1956).