HERGÉ (1907-1983)

Tintin - Coke in stock Graphite, Indian ink and pen ink on paper for the preparatory pencil sketch of plate 30. On the back, there are many sketches and preparatory drawings for plate 32 of the same episode. Signed, dedicated and dated 1978 in the lower right corner. 51,9 x 36,9 cm. Casterman, 1958. The certificate of the Comité d'authentification des oeuvres d'Hergé is attached. Coke in stock is the 19th album of the Adventures of Tintin by Hergé, published in 1958 by Casterman. Through a subtle and fascinating plot, Hergé denounces the human trafficking and the modern slavery practices. The term "coke" here refers neither to a variety of coal nor to a narcotic: it is used by the smugglers in the story to designate the black African slaves that they transport clandestinely. According to the art critic Pierre Sterckx, this album marks the resumption, by Tintin, of his quest for justice and defense of the oppressed. Specialist of Hergé's work, Benoît Peeters underlines that it is the adventure in which the artist "goes the most in the staging of his own universe", by summoning a large number of characters previously appeared in the series. Coke in Stock holds the record of the album that includes the largest number of secondary characters who appeared in previous adventures, such as General Alcazar, Abdallah, Mohammed Ben Kalish Ezab, Dr. Müller, Oliveira da Figueira, Rastapopoulos, Seraphim Lampion, the Castafiore, Allan Thompson, Nestor and Dawson. The proposed work is a pencil sketch on both sides made with graphite on paper, for the publication of Coke in stock in Le Journal de Tintin in 1956-57. On the front side appears the pencil sketch of the plate 30; on the back side, numerous sketches and preparatory drawings of the following pages. The accomplished character of the page compared to the final version, as well on the level of the structure (the place of the boxes, the phylacteries and the drawings) as on the level of the features of the characters (precise and assertive), as well as the aspect announcing the sketches on the back make this piece exceptional.