Since he first appeared in Hergé's weekly cartoon strip in Le Petit Vingtième in Brussels in 1929, Tintin—the intrepid young reporter and world explorer—has become one of the most celebrated characters in the history of the comic world.
Hergé’s Masterpiece is the first book to approach Hergé as a fine artist, comparing the Tintin cannon to other bodies of work in modern and pop art, and looks at the evolution of the artwork itself, from the broader simplicity of the early newspaper strips to the genre defining sophisticated graphic work of the later books.
With more than 200 million copies of the famous 24 "albums" sold worldwide, Hergé's iconic hero has exploded genres and expectations, bringing readers of all ages to his stories for their unique mixture of artistry, history, and adventure.
Produced in collaboration with the Hergé Museum, the book was written by the Belgian art critic Pierre Sterckx and translated by the British expert on Tintin, Michael Farr, TINTIN - Hergé’s Masterpiece is the definitive book on the art of Tintin. With pencil sketches, character drawings, and watercolors that have never been published before alongside original artwork from the finished stories themselves, the book illuminates Tintin's progress from whimsical caricature to profound icon, and reveals Hergé's parallel development from cartoonist to artist.
Pierre Sterckx (1936-2015) was a journalist and art critic. He was the author of several books on Tintin and Hergé, as well as monographs on artists from Pablo Picasso to Andy Warhol.
Michael Farr is a British journalist and an expert on the Tintin canon. As well as writing several original books on the subject, he has translated many of Hergé’s albums into English.