Tintin and Alph-Art
Encyclopedia
Tintin and Alph-Art was the intended twenty-fourth and final book in the Tintin
series, created by Belgian
comics artist Hergé
. It is a striking departure from the earlier books in tone and subject, as well as in some parts of the style; rather than being set in a usual exotic and action-packed environment this story is largely played out in the world of modern art.
Hergé worked on the book until his death in 1983, and it was published posthumously (despite its unfinished status) in 1986 by Casterman
in association with La Fondation Hergé, and was republished in 2004 with further material. It was released again in late 2010 with the original sketch pad as well as newly found notes and scripts recently discovered in a French
Bank archive.
, Hergé told the journalist and author Numa Sadoul
that he was contemplating the next adventure of Tintin — setting an entire story in an airport departure lounge. This idea was eventually dropped, and in 1978, he decided to set the story in the world of modern art
. During later years Hergé had grown more and more interested in modern art, even attempting it a few times himself as a hobby; so he chose to incorporate his love of avant-garde
artwork into the new story. Hergé was inspired by the Ferdinand Legros and Elmyr de Hory
affair, and incorporated a second element, a new age
sect and a phoney guru
. He planned to cast Rastapopoulos
as the villain, but according to Harry Thompson, dropped the idea in 1980 when he introduced the alphabet art element. Still, an idea exists that the villain Ramó Nash or his accomplice Enddane Akass may be Rastapopoulous in yet another of his disguises.
having a nightmare of being visited by Bianca Castafiore
, who demands that he take his medicine (actually a bottle of Loch Lomond
whisky). When he refuses, as he still cannot stand the beverage after the events of the previous book
, Castafiore turns into a huge bird-like creature and begins to attack Haddock. Fortunately, Tintin
manages to wake him up, whereupon Tintin receives a telephone call from the real Castafiore, who tells him that she has arrived in Belgium
for a few days. She continues her conversation with Tintin, telling him about her new spiritual leader, Endaddine Akass, with whom she intends to stay at his villa in Ischia
, an island off the coast of Naples
.
Later that morning, Captain Haddock comes across Castafiore in a Brussels
street, and in order to avoid her, dashes into the nearby Fourcart Gallery, where he meets Jamaican avant-garde
artist Ramó Nash (the master of "Alph-Art") and the owner of the gallery, Henri Fourcart. Fourcart displays considerable interest in meeting Tintin. At the gallery, Haddock is pressed into purchasing a perspex letter "H" ("Personalph-Art") created by Nash. That evening, when Haddock returns to Marlinspike
, he and Tintin watch a news report featuring their old friend Emir Ben Kalish Ezab, who, flushed with oil
profits, plans to buy Windsor Castle
from the Government of the United Kingdom and the Centre Pompidou in Paris
. The same news program then features a report on the suspicious death of art expert Jacques Monastir, who is presumed drowned off the coast of Ajaccio
, Corsica
.
The next morning, Tintin learns that Fourcart was killed in a car accident, apparently en route to visit him. He visits the gallery to "make a few enquiries" and meets Martine Vandezande, the gallery assistant, who wears large glasses and a strange pendant resembling two E's lined back to back. She discusses the death of her former employer, while her conversation with Tintin is recorded by a reel-to-reel tape recorder hidden under the counter. Tintin then visits the Garage de l'Avenir at Leignault, where the mechanic tells him the location of Fourcart's car crash. Tintin drives there on his motor scooter and is pursued by a black Mercedes. At the scene, Tintin discovers that Fourcart was murdered. The drivers of the black Mercedes then make a botched attempt on Tintin's life. He returns to Marlinspike and tells the Captain about the events of the day.
The next morning, Tintin returns to the gallery and accuses Miss. Martine of telling his attackers he was going to visit Leignault. However, she bursts into tears, suggesting to a shocked Tintin that she may be innocent. On his way home, Tintin sees a poster in the street advertising a conference — "Health and Magnetism" — to be held by the mystic Endaddine Akass, who is shown on the poster wearing a pendant similar to Miss Martine's. That evening, Tintin and Haddock attend the meeting, where they see not only Miss Martine (a follower of Akass's movement) but also the Thompson twins
and Mr. Sakharine (from The Secret of the Unicorn
) in attendance. During the ceremony, Tintin recognises the voice of Akass, but cannot place it. He and Haddock encounter Miss Martine as she leaves the conference. Tintin asks her about the pendant that she wears, which was given to her and "magnetized" by Akass. Believing that he is beginning to understand the affair, Tintin informs Miss Martine the next morning of his plan to unmask Fourcart's murderers. Late that evening, he arrives, carrying a red lamp, at the old Fréaux factory, where he had arranged to meet an informer. Tintin lights his lamp, and the "informer" shoots at him. He avoids injury and attempts to arrest the informer, who is saved when an accomplice knocks Tintin unconscious. He awakes in hospital with Haddock at his bedside, to whom he explains his revelation that there is a micro-transmitter concealed in the pendant worn by Miss Vandezande. Tintin infers that Endaddine Akass gave the unwitting Miss Martine the pendant in order to spy upon Fourcart and senses that he is inextricably linked to his death.
The next morning (despite doctor's orders), Tintin visits each of the other occupants in the apartments that house the Fourcart Gallery. He visits the occupants under the pretence of conducting a survey on solar power
, and recognises a particularly rude resident as Akass's assistant at the meeting. Knowing that he has been recognized, Akass's assistant sends Tintin away and telephones someone, and then agrees to "take care of" Tintin. The next morning, Tintin leaves the Hall
for the village on his motor scooter, and is pursued by the same men who had attacked him in the Mercedes. They shoot at Tintin, whose scooter careens off-road and crashes into a tree. Before the would-be assassins can confirm if Tintin was killed, Haddock, having heard the gunfire, arrives in his car, causing them to flee. Once they are gone, Tintin climbs down from his hiding place inside a pollarded willow. Tintin, Haddock and Calculus later assess the situation around the table. Tintin concludes that the entire affair revolves around Endaddine Akass, and that they should find out more about him. Remembering Castafiore's telephone call several days earlier, he decides to go to Ischia
, where Akass has a villa.
Upon their arrival, Tintin and Haddock spy out the land, observing Akass's villa from a distance, where they see Ramó Nash (the pioneer of "Alph-Art" from whom Haddock bought his perspex "H"). At their hotel, Tintin receives a threatening telephone call warning him to leave the island, and Haddock receives one from Castafiore, who has discovered their presence on the island, and, informing them that Akass is in Rome
for a few days, invites them to the villa. The next morning, they arrive at the villa, where Castafiore introduces them to a number of her friends — the debutante Angelina Sordi, the corrupt industrialists Mr Gibbons (from The Blue Lotus
) and Mr Trickler (from The Broken Ear
), Emir Ben Kalish Ezab (from Land of Black Gold
), Luigi Randazzo (a singer), and Ramó Nash. Tintin and Haddock stay the night at the villa on Castafiore's insistence.
Tintin is awakened by a noise in the middle of the night, and looking out of the window, sees men loading canvases into a van. Intrigued, he explores the villa. In a huge room he comes across a number of paintings by the great masters — Modigliani
, Léger
, Renoir
, Picasso
, Gauguin and Monet — and discovers them all to be fakes. He is discovered by Endaddine Akass, of whom it is revealed that he uses Ramó Nash's "Alph-Art" as a front for large-scale art forgeries. He admits to ordering the "disappearance" of Monastir and Fourcart, who were aware of his activities (and in Fourcart's case, wanted to expose them to Tintin), and states that as Tintin knows too much, he will have to die, too. Akass tells Tintin that in order to kill him, he will have liquid polyester
poured over him, so that he may be turned into a statue, be "signed" by César
, and authenticated by a (presumably corrupt) art expert. The "expansion" piece, entitled "Reporter", will then be sold to a museum or a rich collector. Tintin is led away by one of Akass's men to a cell, where he is locked up. He manages to make contact with Snowy
, who is outside the cell. He writes a note to the Captain and throws it to Snowy through the bars on the window. Night passes, and in the morning, Tintin is awakened by Akass's bodyguard. As the guard leads Tintin out of the cell, he says,
It is at this point that The Adventures of Tintin ends, and what is going to happen next, or who Akass really is, is unknown. The text as a whole is essentially a rough draft, and contains enough room for revision.
, Michel Bareau and Jean-Manuel Duvivier, resulting in forty-two pages of sketches. The album, therefore, only presents the scenarios and sketches of an interrupted tale. However even in its rough state, it is testimony to the extraordinary narrative
and graphic talent of Hergé. The story can appear a little disjointed and convoluted at times, although one must remember that Hergé would have recast and edited the story countless times before it was finished.
It is possible that the scenes set at Marlinspike would have been reduced in favour of balance of the story — in the original manuscript, Tintin, Snowy and Haddock do not leave for Ischia until page 31. Furthermore, the scene involving Tintin and Mrs Laijot was marked for possible cutting (20bis on the original manuscript, meaning an additional page 20).
Bob de Moor
, Hergé's main assistant, showed an interest in completing the book following Hergé's death. It was not such a surprising request; de Moor had worked with Hergé since 1951, was responsible for running the Studios Hergé
in his absence, adapted the animated film Tintin and the Lake of Sharks
into comic-strip form, and worked on the previous book Tintin and the Picaros
with Hergé alone. In de Moor's words, "Personally I would have loved to finish Alph-Art. It would have been a tribute to Hergé. Fanny Remi asked me to finish it, and I began work on it, but after a few months she changed her mind. I didn't insist, but for me it was logical that there was a studio, there were artists in the studio, Casterman asked for it to be finished, there were twenty-three finished books, that one story was not finished; so I had to finish it".
The 2004 edition, published by Egmont, uses an entirely new layout, mixing Hergé's pages with the text and enlarged frames to highlight parts of the story. It is in the same format as the standard albums — a hardback book, sixty-two pages in length, and is readily available in the UK.
The same edition was published in 2007 by Little, Brown/Hachette in the USA.
. Originally drawn and printed (privately) in black-and-white in the early 1990s, a color version was produced in 2004 by Finnish-based group Studio Juhis. The Rodier edition has been translated into English by various people, the edition by Rackham being the most successful and with a different cover.
Note: the first English-language edition of the book, published by Sundancer, is now out of print.
The Adventures of Tintin
The Adventures of Tintin is a series of classic comic books created by Belgian artist , who wrote under the pen name of Hergé...
series, created by Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
comics artist Hergé
Hergé
Georges Prosper Remi , better known by the pen name Hergé, was a Belgian comics writer and artist. His best known and most substantial work is the 23 completed comic books in The Adventures of Tintin series, which he wrote and illustrated from 1929 until his death in 1983, although he was also...
. It is a striking departure from the earlier books in tone and subject, as well as in some parts of the style; rather than being set in a usual exotic and action-packed environment this story is largely played out in the world of modern art.
Hergé worked on the book until his death in 1983, and it was published posthumously (despite its unfinished status) in 1986 by Casterman
Casterman
Casterman is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics, specializing in comic books and children's literature. The company is based in Tournai, Belgium.Founded in 1780, Casterman was originally a printing company and publishing house...
in association with La Fondation Hergé, and was republished in 2004 with further material. It was released again in late 2010 with the original sketch pad as well as newly found notes and scripts recently discovered in a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Bank archive.
History
In 1976, a few months after the publication of Tintin and the PicarosTintin and the Picaros
Tintin and the Picaros is one of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip graphic novels, written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero....
, Hergé told the journalist and author Numa Sadoul
Numa Sadoul
Numa Sadoul is a French writer, actor, and director, who has been a resident of France since 1966....
that he was contemplating the next adventure of Tintin — setting an entire story in an airport departure lounge. This idea was eventually dropped, and in 1978, he decided to set the story in the world of modern art
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
. During later years Hergé had grown more and more interested in modern art, even attempting it a few times himself as a hobby; so he chose to incorporate his love of avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
artwork into the new story. Hergé was inspired by the Ferdinand Legros and Elmyr de Hory
Elmyr de Hory
Elmyr de Hory was a Hungarian-born painter and art forger who claimed to have sold over a thousand forgeries to reputable art galleries all over the world...
affair, and incorporated a second element, a new age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
sect and a phoney guru
Guru
A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
. He planned to cast Rastapopoulos
Rastapopoulos
Roberto Rastapopoulos is a fictional character in The Adventures of Tintin, the series of classic Belgian comic books written and illustrated by Hergé. He is the antagonist in many of Tintin's adventures....
as the villain, but according to Harry Thompson, dropped the idea in 1980 when he introduced the alphabet art element. Still, an idea exists that the villain Ramó Nash or his accomplice Enddane Akass may be Rastapopoulous in yet another of his disguises.
Storyline
The story opens with Captain HaddockCaptain Haddock
Captain Archibald Haddock is a fictional character in The Adventures of Tintin, the series of classic Belgian comic books written and illustrated by Hergé...
having a nightmare of being visited by Bianca Castafiore
Bianca Castafiore
Bianca Castafiore, the "Milanese Nightingale", is a fictional character in The Adventures of Tintin, the series of classic Belgian comic books written and illustrated by Hergé...
, who demands that he take his medicine (actually a bottle of Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond is a freshwater Scottish loch, lying on the Highland Boundary Fault. It is the largest lake in Great Britain by surface area. The lake contains many islands, including Inchmurrin, the largest fresh-water island in the British Isles, although the lake itself is smaller than many Irish...
whisky). When he refuses, as he still cannot stand the beverage after the events of the previous book
Tintin and the Picaros
Tintin and the Picaros is one of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip graphic novels, written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero....
, Castafiore turns into a huge bird-like creature and begins to attack Haddock. Fortunately, Tintin
Tintin (character)
Tintin is a fictional character in The Adventures of Tintin, the series of classic Belgian comic books written and illustrated by Hergé. Tintin is the protagonist of the series, a reporter and adventurer who travels around the world with his dog Snowy....
manages to wake him up, whereupon Tintin receives a telephone call from the real Castafiore, who tells him that she has arrived in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
for a few days. She continues her conversation with Tintin, telling him about her new spiritual leader, Endaddine Akass, with whom she intends to stay at his villa in Ischia
Ischia
Ischia is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about 30 km from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures around 10 km east to west and 7 km north to south and has...
, an island off the coast of Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
.
Later that morning, Captain Haddock comes across Castafiore in a Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
street, and in order to avoid her, dashes into the nearby Fourcart Gallery, where he meets Jamaican avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
artist Ramó Nash (the master of "Alph-Art") and the owner of the gallery, Henri Fourcart. Fourcart displays considerable interest in meeting Tintin. At the gallery, Haddock is pressed into purchasing a perspex letter "H" ("Personalph-Art") created by Nash. That evening, when Haddock returns to Marlinspike
Marlinspike Hall
Marlinspike Hall is Captain Haddock's country house in Hergé's comic book series The Adventures of Tintin.The hall is modeled after the central section of the Château de Cheverny...
, he and Tintin watch a news report featuring their old friend Emir Ben Kalish Ezab, who, flushed with oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
profits, plans to buy Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
from the Government of the United Kingdom and the Centre Pompidou in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The same news program then features a report on the suspicious death of art expert Jacques Monastir, who is presumed drowned off the coast of Ajaccio
Ajaccio
Ajaccio , is a commune on the island of Corsica in France. It is the capital and largest city of the region of Corsica and the prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud....
, Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
.
The next morning, Tintin learns that Fourcart was killed in a car accident, apparently en route to visit him. He visits the gallery to "make a few enquiries" and meets Martine Vandezande, the gallery assistant, who wears large glasses and a strange pendant resembling two E's lined back to back. She discusses the death of her former employer, while her conversation with Tintin is recorded by a reel-to-reel tape recorder hidden under the counter. Tintin then visits the Garage de l'Avenir at Leignault, where the mechanic tells him the location of Fourcart's car crash. Tintin drives there on his motor scooter and is pursued by a black Mercedes. At the scene, Tintin discovers that Fourcart was murdered. The drivers of the black Mercedes then make a botched attempt on Tintin's life. He returns to Marlinspike and tells the Captain about the events of the day.
The next morning, Tintin returns to the gallery and accuses Miss. Martine of telling his attackers he was going to visit Leignault. However, she bursts into tears, suggesting to a shocked Tintin that she may be innocent. On his way home, Tintin sees a poster in the street advertising a conference — "Health and Magnetism" — to be held by the mystic Endaddine Akass, who is shown on the poster wearing a pendant similar to Miss Martine's. That evening, Tintin and Haddock attend the meeting, where they see not only Miss Martine (a follower of Akass's movement) but also the Thompson twins
Thomson and Thompson
Thomson and Thompson are fictional characters in The Adventures of Tintin, the series of classic Belgian comic books written and illustrated by Hergé. Thomson and Thompson are detectives of Scotland Yard, and are as incompetent as they are necessary comic relief...
and Mr. Sakharine (from The Secret of the Unicorn
The Secret of the Unicorn
The Secret of the Unicorn is the eleventh title in the comic book series The Adventures of Tintin, written and illustrated by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. Designed to be the first volume in a two-part story, the plot of The Secret of the Unicorn was continued in the twelfth Tintin adventure, Red...
) in attendance. During the ceremony, Tintin recognises the voice of Akass, but cannot place it. He and Haddock encounter Miss Martine as she leaves the conference. Tintin asks her about the pendant that she wears, which was given to her and "magnetized" by Akass. Believing that he is beginning to understand the affair, Tintin informs Miss Martine the next morning of his plan to unmask Fourcart's murderers. Late that evening, he arrives, carrying a red lamp, at the old Fréaux factory, where he had arranged to meet an informer. Tintin lights his lamp, and the "informer" shoots at him. He avoids injury and attempts to arrest the informer, who is saved when an accomplice knocks Tintin unconscious. He awakes in hospital with Haddock at his bedside, to whom he explains his revelation that there is a micro-transmitter concealed in the pendant worn by Miss Vandezande. Tintin infers that Endaddine Akass gave the unwitting Miss Martine the pendant in order to spy upon Fourcart and senses that he is inextricably linked to his death.
The next morning (despite doctor's orders), Tintin visits each of the other occupants in the apartments that house the Fourcart Gallery. He visits the occupants under the pretence of conducting a survey on solar power
Solar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
, and recognises a particularly rude resident as Akass's assistant at the meeting. Knowing that he has been recognized, Akass's assistant sends Tintin away and telephones someone, and then agrees to "take care of" Tintin. The next morning, Tintin leaves the Hall
Marlinspike Hall
Marlinspike Hall is Captain Haddock's country house in Hergé's comic book series The Adventures of Tintin.The hall is modeled after the central section of the Château de Cheverny...
for the village on his motor scooter, and is pursued by the same men who had attacked him in the Mercedes. They shoot at Tintin, whose scooter careens off-road and crashes into a tree. Before the would-be assassins can confirm if Tintin was killed, Haddock, having heard the gunfire, arrives in his car, causing them to flee. Once they are gone, Tintin climbs down from his hiding place inside a pollarded willow. Tintin, Haddock and Calculus later assess the situation around the table. Tintin concludes that the entire affair revolves around Endaddine Akass, and that they should find out more about him. Remembering Castafiore's telephone call several days earlier, he decides to go to Ischia
Ischia
Ischia is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about 30 km from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures around 10 km east to west and 7 km north to south and has...
, where Akass has a villa.
Upon their arrival, Tintin and Haddock spy out the land, observing Akass's villa from a distance, where they see Ramó Nash (the pioneer of "Alph-Art" from whom Haddock bought his perspex "H"). At their hotel, Tintin receives a threatening telephone call warning him to leave the island, and Haddock receives one from Castafiore, who has discovered their presence on the island, and, informing them that Akass is in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
for a few days, invites them to the villa. The next morning, they arrive at the villa, where Castafiore introduces them to a number of her friends — the debutante Angelina Sordi, the corrupt industrialists Mr Gibbons (from The Blue Lotus
The Blue Lotus
The Blue Lotus , first published in 1936, is one of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip albums written and illustrated by Hergé featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero. It is a sequel to Cigars of the Pharaoh, with Tintin continuing his struggle against a major gang of drug...
) and Mr Trickler (from The Broken Ear
The Broken Ear
The Broken Ear is the sixth of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip albums, written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero...
), Emir Ben Kalish Ezab (from Land of Black Gold
Land of Black Gold
Land of Black Gold is the fifteenth of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip albums, written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero....
), Luigi Randazzo (a singer), and Ramó Nash. Tintin and Haddock stay the night at the villa on Castafiore's insistence.
Tintin is awakened by a noise in the middle of the night, and looking out of the window, sees men loading canvases into a van. Intrigued, he explores the villa. In a huge room he comes across a number of paintings by the great masters — Modigliani
Amedeo Modigliani
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. Primarily a figurative artist, he became known for paintings and sculptures in a modern style characterized by mask-like faces and elongation of form...
, Léger
Fernand Léger
Joseph Fernand Henri Léger was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of Cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style...
, Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty, and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to...
, Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, Gauguin and Monet — and discovers them all to be fakes. He is discovered by Endaddine Akass, of whom it is revealed that he uses Ramó Nash's "Alph-Art" as a front for large-scale art forgeries. He admits to ordering the "disappearance" of Monastir and Fourcart, who were aware of his activities (and in Fourcart's case, wanted to expose them to Tintin), and states that as Tintin knows too much, he will have to die, too. Akass tells Tintin that in order to kill him, he will have liquid polyester
Polyester
Polyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate...
poured over him, so that he may be turned into a statue, be "signed" by César
César Baldaccini
César Baldaccini , usually called César was a noted French sculptor.César was at the forefront of the Nouveau Réalisme movement with his radical compressions , expansions , and fantastic representations of animals and insects.- Biography :He...
, and authenticated by a (presumably corrupt) art expert. The "expansion" piece, entitled "Reporter", will then be sold to a museum or a rich collector. Tintin is led away by one of Akass's men to a cell, where he is locked up. He manages to make contact with Snowy
Snowy (character)
Snowy is a fictional character in The Adventures of Tintin, the series of classic Belgian comic books written and illustrated by Hergé. He is a white Wire Fox Terrier and Tintin's four-legged companion who travels everywhere with him...
, who is outside the cell. He writes a note to the Captain and throws it to Snowy through the bars on the window. Night passes, and in the morning, Tintin is awakened by Akass's bodyguard. As the guard leads Tintin out of the cell, he says,
It is at this point that The Adventures of Tintin ends, and what is going to happen next, or who Akass really is, is unknown. The text as a whole is essentially a rough draft, and contains enough room for revision.
Re-discovered pages
In the 2004 edition of the book, nine additional pages are included, which present alternative ideas for the story. The most significant include the following:- A change of lifestyle for Captain Haddock — becoming infatuated with a minimalist painter named Ramó Nash, changing his style of dress, transforming the house, and growing hashishHashishHashish is a cannabis preparation composed of compressed stalked resin glands, called trichomes, collected from the unfertilized buds of the cannabis plant. It contains the same active ingredients but in higher concentrations than unsifted buds or leaves...
in the cellars at Marlinspike. Haddock and Tintin are accused of drug smuggling, and an investigation takes place in Amsterdam. - Painting and narcotics; at the Sondenesian embassy (see Flight 714Flight 714Flight 714, first published in 1968, is the 22nd and penultimate complete volume of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip albums by the Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero. Its original French title is Vol 714 pour Sydney...
) a grand soirée is held, which is attended by ambassadors for Saboulistan, San TheodorosSan TheodorosSan Theodoros is a fictional Central American country in The Adventures of Tintin. It is a satirical version of a Latin American banana republic country under the yoke of military government.-History:...
, BorduriaBorduriaBorduria is a fictional country in the comic strip series The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé. It is located in the Balkans and has a rivalry with the fictional neighbouring country of Syldavia. Borduria is depicted in King Ottokar's Sceptre and The Calculus Affair, and is referred to in Tintin and...
, and SyldaviaSyldaviaSyldavia is a fictional Balkan kingdom featured in The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé. The name was derived from TranSYLvania and MolDAVIA.-Overview:...
. Dr. Krollspell (also from Flight 714) makes a reappearance, as director of a brown-sugar factory. - Captain Haddock suffers from neurastheniaNeurastheniaNeurasthenia is a psycho-pathological term first used by George Miller Beard in 1869 to denote a condition with symptoms of fatigue, anxiety, headache, neuralgia and depressed mood...
because he can no longer drink whiskey. He takes up painting, and becomes infatuated with the painter Ramó Nash. Calculus invents a product that will allow Haddock to drink whisky again; during trials, Haddock loses all his hair and blotches appear on his face. - Endaddine Akass is revealed as Rastapopoulos. This is not confirmed in the actual book, so there is much speculation as to whether Hergé would have used this idea.
- Background information is given of Akass — the readers learn that he is involved with Emir Ben Kalish Ezab, an idea not pursued fully in the story.
- An alternative page featuring Rastapopoulos — this would have taken the place of pages 39–40.
- Haddock is invited to an exhibition by the painter Ramó Nash. A number of old acquaintances attend, such as Dawson (The Blue LotusThe Blue LotusThe Blue Lotus , first published in 1936, is one of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip albums written and illustrated by Hergé featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero. It is a sequel to Cigars of the Pharaoh, with Tintin continuing his struggle against a major gang of drug...
), the Bird brothers (The Secret of the UnicornThe Secret of the UnicornThe Secret of the Unicorn is the eleventh title in the comic book series The Adventures of Tintin, written and illustrated by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. Designed to be the first volume in a two-part story, the plot of The Secret of the Unicorn was continued in the twelfth Tintin adventure, Red...
), and Carreidas (Flight 714Flight 714Flight 714, first published in 1968, is the 22nd and penultimate complete volume of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip albums by the Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero. Its original French title is Vol 714 pour Sydney...
).
Influences
- Endaddine Akass was based on the real-life character of Ferdinand Legros.
- Ramó Nash was based on the real-life Elmyr de HoryElmyr de HoryElmyr de Hory was a Hungarian-born painter and art forger who claimed to have sold over a thousand forgeries to reputable art galleries all over the world...
. - Martine Vandezande's appearance seems to be have been based on the Greek singer Nana MouskouriNana MouskouriNana Mouskouri , born Ioánna Moúschouri on October 13, 1934, in Chania, Crete, Greece, is a Greek singer who has sold about 300 million records worldwide in a career spanning over five decades, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She was known as Nána to her friends and...
. Her surname may have been taken from the name of a publishing house, l'imprimeur Vandezande, which published a Tintin calendar in 1946.
Hergé's legacy
Upon his death, Hergé left around one hundred and fifty pages of pencil sketches for the story. These were edited by a team of experts, including Benoît PeetersBenoît Peeters
Benoît Peeters is a comics writer, novelist, and critic. He has lived in Belgium since 1978.His best-known work is Les Cités Obscures, an imaginary world which mingles a Borgesian metaphysical surrealism with the detailed architectural vistas of the series' artist, François Schuiten...
, Michel Bareau and Jean-Manuel Duvivier, resulting in forty-two pages of sketches. The album, therefore, only presents the scenarios and sketches of an interrupted tale. However even in its rough state, it is testimony to the extraordinary narrative
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
and graphic talent of Hergé. The story can appear a little disjointed and convoluted at times, although one must remember that Hergé would have recast and edited the story countless times before it was finished.
It is possible that the scenes set at Marlinspike would have been reduced in favour of balance of the story — in the original manuscript, Tintin, Snowy and Haddock do not leave for Ischia until page 31. Furthermore, the scene involving Tintin and Mrs Laijot was marked for possible cutting (20bis on the original manuscript, meaning an additional page 20).
Bob de Moor
Bob de Moor
Bob de Moor is the pen name of Robert Frans Marie De Moor , a Belgian comics creator. Chiefly noted as an artist, he is considered an early master of the Ligne claire style. He wrote and drew several comics series on his own, but also collaborated with Hergé on several volumes of The Adventures of...
, Hergé's main assistant, showed an interest in completing the book following Hergé's death. It was not such a surprising request; de Moor had worked with Hergé since 1951, was responsible for running the Studios Hergé
Studios Hergé
The Studios Hergé were, between 1950 and 1986, a SARL grouping comics author Hergé and his collaborators, who assisted him with the creation of The Adventures of Tintin and derived products...
in his absence, adapted the animated film Tintin and the Lake of Sharks
Tintin and the Lake of Sharks
Tintin and the Lake of Sharks is a Tintin animated film, directed by Raymond Leblanc . It was not written by Hergé, who supervised, but by the Belgian comics creator Greg , a friend of Hergé...
into comic-strip form, and worked on the previous book Tintin and the Picaros
Tintin and the Picaros
Tintin and the Picaros is one of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip graphic novels, written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero....
with Hergé alone. In de Moor's words, "Personally I would have loved to finish Alph-Art. It would have been a tribute to Hergé. Fanny Remi asked me to finish it, and I began work on it, but after a few months she changed her mind. I didn't insist, but for me it was logical that there was a studio, there were artists in the studio, Casterman asked for it to be finished, there were twenty-three finished books, that one story was not finished; so I had to finish it".
Publication history
The book was first published in English in 1990 by Sundancer. Unusually — but understandably given the nature of the unfinished artwork with Hergé's original hand-written text — the translations do not replace the original text. They are presented separately in a supplementary booklet included with the book.The 2004 edition, published by Egmont, uses an entirely new layout, mixing Hergé's pages with the text and enlarged frames to highlight parts of the story. It is in the same format as the standard albums — a hardback book, sixty-two pages in length, and is readily available in the UK.
The same edition was published in 2007 by Little, Brown/Hachette in the USA.
Pirate editions
A number of pirated versions of the story exist, finished by other artists. The first was produced by an artist under the name of Ramó Nash. The second, and more renowned, is by Canadian artist Yves RodierYves Rodier
Yves Rodier is a Franco-Québécois comic strip creator known for his many pastiches of The Adventures of Tintin.- Biography :...
. Originally drawn and printed (privately) in black-and-white in the early 1990s, a color version was produced in 2004 by Finnish-based group Studio Juhis. The Rodier edition has been translated into English by various people, the edition by Rackham being the most successful and with a different cover.
French
- Hergé, Tintin et l'Alph-Art (Casterman, 84pp, 1986) - ISBN 2-203-01701-5
- Hergé, Tintin et l'Alph-Art (Casterman, 62pp, 2004) - ISBN 2-203-00132-1
English
- Hergé, Tintin and Alph-Art (Sundancer, 94 pp., 1990)—ISBN 0-9512799-2-0
- Hergé, Tintin and Alph-Art (Egmont, 64 pp., 2004)—ISBN 1-4052-1448-1
- Hergé, Tintin and Alph-Art (Little, Brown/Hachette, 64 pp., 2007)—ISBN 9780316003759
Note: the first English-language edition of the book, published by Sundancer, is now out of print.
Trivia
- In honor of Hergé's legacy, the awards handed out at the Angoulême FestivalAngoulême International Comics FestivalThe Angoulême International Comics Festival is the largest comics festival in Europe. It has occurred every year since 1974 in Angoulême, France, in the month of January.The four-day festival is notable for awarding several prestigious prizes in cartooning...
were given the name Alph-Art between 1989 and 2003. - The French title actually translates to "Tintin and the Alpha-Art", but for some reasons that name wasn't used in the English editions of the book.
Further reading
- LofficierJean-Marc LofficierJean-Marc Lofficier is a French author of books about films and television programs, as well as numerous comic books and translations of a number of animation screenplays. He usually collaborates with his wife, Randy Lofficier .-Biography:Jean-Marc Lofficier was born in Toulon, France in 1954...
, Jean-Marc & Randy (2002) The Pocket Essential Tintin - ISBN 1-904048-17-X - Thompson, Harry (1991) Tintin - Hergé & His Creation - ISBN 0-340-52393-X
- Goddin, Philippe (2004) Hergé, Chronologie d'une œuvre (Tome 5) - ISBN 2-87424-052-4
External links
- Tintin and Alph-Art at Tintinologist.org