73 - Schwartz

Schwartz OLIVIER SCHWARTZ Original illustration for the poster of the 2026 annual meeting of the Friends of Hergé. Signed. India ink on paper 38 × 50.2 cm (14.96 × 19.76 in.) The image centers on a circle in which we can recognize Hergé, Bob de Moor, Franquin, Morris, Jijé, and Jacobs gazing at the Espadon. To their left stand Uderzo and Goscinny, and above them, Maurice Tillieux. In a bustling marketplace reminiscent of the one in *The Secret of the Unicorn*, we can identify not only the ship itself but also the Blue Lotus vase, Ottokar’s scepter, Jocko, a crate of Loch Lomond… and a shield from the *Asterix* universe. At the top, the tram, cars, and shops give us clues about the location and time period: Brussels in the 1950s. Meanwhile, in the lower right corner, the eye is suddenly drawn to a portrait of Philippe Goddin, whose deep, distant gaze reminds us that he has entered a kind of eternity. Beyond the circle of Hergé’s Friends, Olivier Schwartz sought to pay tribute to the world of comics as a whole. It is a work that is both masterful and moving. “I wanted to show that Hergé’s ‘enemies’ were also his friends. Uderzo and Goscinny had worked at the Tintin magazine. And *Tintin in the Land of the Soviets* was a defining influence on Morris. All these authors were quite admiring of his work.” O.S.