Original drawing by Jean Giraud for the comic series Leutnant Blueberry
Original drawing by Jean Giraud (8.5.1938 - 10.03.2012) for the comic series Lieutenant Blueberry.
Here is the cover drawing for the German-language edition “Der verlorene Reiter” (Lieutenant Blueberry 4) from 1978
The originality was confirmed in 2024 by the French auction house Artcurial in Paris.
In a personal conversation with the employee responsible there, Saveria de Valence, a possible consignment was
a possible consignment was discussed. Her price estimate at the time was at least 80,000 euros. A price that could increase at auction, as she said at the time.
According to her, it was the only cover picture in such a magnificent small format.
A few weeks after the personal conversation, we were then informed
that the auction would take place without any picture of the object. Neither online nor in the auction catalog would the drawing be visible. Due to copyright issues, there would only be a text advertising the drawing
in the auction catalog. The price estimate was corrected downwards almost simultaneously and probably for this reason. This is despite the fact that colored Blueberry cover originals have regularly sold for over 100,000 since 2013 (when they have been offered).
In the meantime, even the inside of a Blueberry album has achieved 175,000 dollars at the Heritage auction house.
We did NOT agree to these conditions and decided against marketing through Artcurial. Also because the justification is not tenable in any form according to German jurisdiction.
The conversation took place in the presence of an independent interpreter, who can of course testify to everything written here.
We are now launching the sale via our own website.
The cover illustration is completely in color and was created by Jean Giraud for Koralle Verlag GmbH Berlin-Hamburg. It was first printed as the cover of the album “Leutnant Blueberry - Der verlorene Reiter”, which was published in 1978.
We are not experts in the field of French publications. However, we believe that this cover picture only existed in Germany. Unfortunately, we do not know why an original drawing was produced by Jean Giraud especially for the German-language edition.
The condition of the drawing is very good. It is protected with a thin semi-transparent paper on which the note “T. 28.8.” was noted. Saveria de Valence from Artcurial in Paris was enthusiastic about this work. According to her, she had never seen a color Giraud original in such a small, beautiful format before.
The drawing is on thick cardboard and labeled at the bottom with the German-language reference Blueberry - Album “Verlorener Reiter” and a small note “153%”.
The size is approx. 18.5 x 16 cm.
Of course, the object can be viewed here in Bremen. However, as we have to get it out of a safe, we need a few days to prepare it. We have added a watermark so that nobody can use our scan. If you are seriously interested in buying it, we can of course send you a picture without this watermark.
Provenance:
For many years, the drawing was owned by Wolfgang J. Fuchs (September 6, 1945 - January 20, 2020) Wolfgang J. Fuchs last lived in Munich and was a German non-fiction author, freelance journalist], comic book author, translator and film expert. He is considered Germany's first comic researcher.
Before his death, he sold the drawing to the Munich collector Chris Krumm, who unfortunately died himself just two years later and whose estate we have taken over in its entirety.
Price: 125,000 euros (net)
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