Record price for Tintin drawing

An original drawing by the Belgian cartoonist known as Hergé from one of the most popular Tintin adventures sold Saturday at auction in France for a record 1.55 million euros, the auction house Artcurial announced.

The drawing in Chinese ink and white gouache, which had been expected to sell for between 700,000 and 900, 000 euros ($741,000 and $952,000), shows the boy reporter Tintin, his dog Snowy and the sailor Captain Haddock wearing spacesuits while walking on the moon.

The 1954 book "Explorers on the Moon"  is considered by many as one of the best works ever produced by Hergé, who was born Georges Prosper Remi in 1907 and died in 1983. He sold some 230 million Tintin albums during his lifetime.

Record-holding author

The sale was a record for a single cartoon drawing, but Hergé holds most other sales records connected with original cartoon drawings for the comic albums known as "bandes dessinées" (BD) in French.

In May 2014, a double-page ink drawing that served as the inside cover for all the Tintin adventures published between 1937 and 1958 sold for 2.6 million euros.

The rival auction house Christie's was scheduled to put other original Hergé drawings under the hammer in Paris on Saturday afternoon.

Hergé is currently the subject of a large retrospective exhibition at the Grand Palais located at the Champs-Elysees in Paris.