TinTin in America Artwork Breaks Record for Most Valuable Original Black and White Drawing by Illustrator Hergé

An artwork by Tintin creator Hergé has set the world record for the artist’s most valuable original black and white drawing after selling at auction for more than €2m. The artwork sold at Artcurial, a French auction house, for €2,158,000 and was brought to sale with the assistance of The Fine Art Group. The drawing was originally published in 1946 for the color edition of Hergé’s book TinTin in America.

The Art Newspaper and The Guardian recently featured this spectacular auction. Both articles are linked below.

The Guardian- TinTin Drawing by Hergé Sells at Auction for Record £1.9M

The Art Newspaper- Go TinTin: Drawing of Belgian Boy Detective Fetches More than €2M at Auction

The Fine Art Group is excited to have curated the sale of The World of Hergé, Tintin’s Creator, including the original drawing for the cover of TinTin in America. Hergé’s created the first drawn version in 1942, which was then transformed into the color edition in 1946. This timeless artwork is estimated to sell between €2.2 to €3.2 million. The auction will be held on February 10th, 2023, at Artcurial. 

Please click here to read the full press release for more information about this transformative piece.

OUR SERVICES

Offering expert Advisory across sectors, our dedicated Advisory and Sales Agency teams combine strategic insight with transparent advice to guide our clients seamlessly through the market. We always welcome the opportunity to discuss our strategies and services in depth.

The Fine Art Group is pleased to assist Ms. Jane Fonda in bringing an important collection of often unsung American artists to a mainstream market. It is our shared wish that the global platform Christie’s can provide will not only draw national but international attention to the history and legacies of untrained artists of color working in the American south. Things Grow in the United States: Works from the Collection of Jane Fonda features significant works by Thornton Dial, his brother Arthur Dial and his son Thornton Dial, Jr. the collection will be sold as part of the Christie’s Outsider and Vernacular Art Auction on January 18th.

Click here to read more about Jane Fonda’s goal and mission in displaying these specific types of artworks.

Lot 37, Untitled by Thornton Dial (1928-2016) will be sold on January 18th as part of Things Grow in the United States: Works from the Collection of Jane Fonda.

OUR SERVICES

 Offering expert Advisory across sectors, our dedicated Advisory , Sales Agency, and High-Profile Client Division teams combine strategic insight with transparent advice to guide our clients seamlessly through the market. We always welcome the opportunity to discuss our strategies and services in depth.

The Fine Art Group advises institutions and non-profits to perform due diligence around deaccessions in order to meet their individual missions. 

We are proud to have advised the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in the deaccession and sale strategy of a collection of ornithological rare books, including 19^th century illustrated books by John Gould. The books are being offered through Sotheby’s Fine Books and Manuscripts Sale ending on December 16th, 2022.

For more information on how to register, please visit Sotheby’s by clicking here.

John Gould (British, 1804-1881) was a naturalist and ornithologist that documented exotic birds and other animals across the globe through expertly rendered drawings and watercolors. Gould, with a background in horticulture and taxidermy, had a deep understanding of the natural world and his vast body of work reflects that.

These rare books will be sold to fund the care of the museum’s collection of over 22 million specimens and important objects.

FURTHER READING

• The Inside Story of the $8 Million Heist from the Carnegie Library

OUR SERVICES

Offering expert Advisory across sectors, our dedicated Advisory and Sales Agency teams combine strategic insight with transparent advice to guide our clients seamlessly through the market. We always welcome the opportunity to discuss our strategies and services in depth.

The Fine Art Group is pleased to offer a collection of a variety of Hermès handbags on behalf of a private collector. The sale of the collection is online through Sotheby’s Handbags & Accessories Auction and begins December 5, 2022. For more information on how to register to bid, please visit Sotheby’s by clicking here.

• Watch The Educated Eye: Understanding the Hermès Luxury Handbag Market

OUR SERVICES

Offering expert Advisory across sectors, our dedicated Advisory and Sales Agency teams combine strategic insight with transparent advice to guide our clients seamlessly through the market. We always welcome the opportunity to discuss our strategies and services in depth.

The Fine Art Group is pleased to offer a collection of luxury handbags on behalf of a private collector. The collection includes top fashion house names such as Christian Dior, Hermès, Prada, and Chanel. It is being offered online through Hindman Auctions Luxe Holiday Sale and begins December 1, 2022. For more information on how to register to bid, please visit Hindman by clicking here.

• Watch The Educated Eye: Understanding the Hermès Luxury Handbag Market

OUR SERVICES

Offering expert Advisory across sectors, our dedicated Advisory and Sales Agency teams combine strategic insight with transparent advice to guide our clients seamlessly through the market. We always welcome the opportunity to discuss our strategies and services in depth.

The Fine Art Group is pleased to offer this impressive work by famed American illustration artist N .C. Wyeth on behalf of a private collector. The work, Lot 33, will be offered by Freeman’s Auctioneers in their American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists auction on December 4, 2022. For more information please visit Freeman’s to learn more about this important painting and bidder registration.

Freeman Auctions
American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists
Featuring the Collection of Charles and Virginia Bowden
December 4, 2022
Lot 33

N.C. Wyeth (American, 1882-1945)
The Father Kept the Children Near Him, but Always Young Olaf Looked with Tragic Eyes Toward the Slope Where Padfoot Waited
1923
Oil on canvas
24 1/8 x 44 in. (61.3 x 111.8cm)
Signed ‘N.C. Wyeth’ bottom right
ESTIMATE: $120,000 – $180,000

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• N.C. Wyeth’s Skier Jumps to $1,205,000

OUR SERVICES

Offering expert Advisory across sectors, our dedicated Advisory and Sales Agency teams combine strategic insight with transparent advice to guide our clients seamlessly through the market. We always welcome the opportunity to discuss our strategies and services in depth.

second highest amount secured for a Paraiba at auction

The Fine Art Group was pleased to assist a client in selling their exceptional Paraiba Tourmaline and Diamond Pendant-Necklace. The result was the second highest amount secured for a Paraiba at auction and shows the strength of the market for outstanding specimen stones of rarity.

An Exceptional Paraiba Tourmaline and Diamond Pendant

Estimate: $500,000-$700,000

Realized: $1,197,000

CATALOGUE NOTE

Tourmaline, the most diverse of all gems, has an astonishing range of colors, but none more celebrated than the “electric” Paraiba variety. This type of elbaite is colored by a complex chemical interplay notably involving traces of copper. In rare cases, typically through gentle heating, vivid “neon” green-blues and blues are produced. Many who experience these exotic hues for the first time find it difficult to believe such shocking, vibrant colors are possible in a natural stone.

Discovered in the late 1980s in São José da Batalha in the Brazilian state of Paraíba, this novelty gem was introduced at the 1990 Tucson gem and mineral show. The initial surprise over the unprecedented colors quickly turned into soaring demand and historic values for tourmaline over a short four-day period, cementing a trend that has kept a furious pace ever since. Subsequent exploration yielded small additional Brazilian deposits in the Rio Grande do Norte as well as two African finds, in Nigeria (2001) and later in Mozambique (2005). These mines produced prized Paraiba examples, but it is undeniable that the scarce few exceptional gems mined from the now exhausted original Brazilian sources remain most coveted by connoisseurs.

The present lot is an example of exceptional size and color sourced from the Brazilian finds. Weighing over 10 carats, its vivid saturation and open tone combines a pleasing hint of green to the dominant blue hue. Unlike the vast majority of Brazilian Paraiba which have transparency issues, this stone adds to its distinction with an extraordinary clarity. It is a true gem worthy of the finest collections.

FURTHER READING

• Jewelry Market Report: First Half of 2022

OUR SERVICES

Offering expert Advisory across sectors, our dedicated Advisory and Sales Agency teams combine strategic insight with transparent advice to guide our clients seamlessly through the market. We always welcome the opportunity to discuss our strategies and services in depth.

In partnership with MS Gifts, The Fine Art Group’s Philanthropic Strategy Team assists families with creating legacy by collaborating with philanthropic planning advisors and executing effective sales strategy.

Jack Charles Davis was a prominent attorney and philanthropist dedicated to promoting the economic and community development of his hometown, Lansing, Michigan. He was also a passionate book collector and voracious reader.

After Davis passed in 2020, his family sought to honor his history of charitable work by leveraging his extensive collection of iconic and valuable books and manuscripts.

The Jack Charles Davis collection sale with Hindman auctions includes an extensive library of literature acquired over a lifetime. The proceeds of the sale will benefit several regional charities important to Davis and his family.

Click here to view the collection and to register for bidding.

FURTHER READING

• Converting Passion Assets into Charitable Impact

OUR SERVICES

Offering expert Advisory across sectors, our dedicated Advisory, Sales Agency, and Philanthropic Strategy teams combine strategic insight with transparent advice to guide our clients seamlessly through the market. We always welcome the opportunity to discuss our strategies and services in depth.

MASTERWORKS FROM THE ALANA COLLECTION

The Fine Art Group is delighted to announce Old Masters | New Perspectives: Masterworks from the Alana Collection, to be sold with Christie’s New York on June 9, 2022. This selection is one of the most important collections of Italian Old Master Paintings, Sculptures, and Antiquities to ever be offered at auction.

The Fine Art Group is honored to advise our client, a world-renowned collector and his family, in the sale of this extraordinary group of masterworks, refining the public offering to maximize return through selective curation, sales management and marketing optimization. Assembled with great expertise and passion over decades, the Alana Collection’s Gothic, Italian Renaissance, and Baroque paintings comprehensively tell the history of Italian art and have gained international renown following the acclaimed 2019-2020 exhibition at the Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris. Masterpieces by Fra Angelico, El Greco, Orazio Gentileschi and Lorenzo Monaco will be offered alongside important antiquities, rare sculpture, and spectacular jewelry.

The auction comprises over 50 outstanding works that will be sold in a single owner live auction taking place at Rockefeller Center on June 9, 2022, after completing a global tour alongside Impressionist, Modern, and Post-War highlights to London, Hong Kong, New York, and Los Angeles. Proceeds from the sale will benefit a charitable organization that focuses on arts and education. In total, the sale of these works is expected to fetch $30 million – 50 million.

Please contact our team for opportunities to preview the collection.

Chief Executive Philip Hoffman comments, “In recent years, The Fine Art Group has ably assisted families shape their collections for the next generation, such as the ‘white glove’ sale for prominent Saudi collector Walid Juffali at Bonhams in 2018, as well as assisting distinguished collectors to refine their extensive holdings for their next phase of collecting, such as the extraordinary Maharajas & Mughal Magnificence auction – a collection of $110 million of jewelry sold at Christie’s in 2019.  Masterworks from the Alana Collection is a fantastic example of these two streams coming together and my global team and I are delighted to be working on behalf of the family, and alongside the team at Christie’s again, to bring a carefully curated selection of works from the wider collection to market.”

Bonnie Brennan, Christie’s President of Americas, comments, “It is an honor to partner with The Fine Art Group to present this once in a generation collection with some of the finest works of their kind to ever come on the public market. The profound quality and breadth of these works stand as a testament of the supreme care and vision that guided the formation of the Alana Collection. We are especially excited to debut these works alongside 20th and 21st century masterpieces, creating a dialogue across the entirety of history.”

OUR SERVICES

Offering expert Advisory across sectors, our dedicated Advisory and Sales Agency teams combine strategic insight with transparent advice to guide our clients seamlessly through the market. We always welcome the opportunity to discuss our strategies and services in depth.

Image 1: Orazio Gentileschi, The Madonna and Child, courtesy of Christie’s