2023-12-03 04:18:54
How did the owner of the drawing obtain it? The daughter of designer Albert Uderzo has filed a complaint to prevent the sale of a famous plate of “Asterix and Cleopatra” considering the conditions of acquisition of the work by the seller doubtful, we learned on Saturday from her lawyer. The original cover drawing for this comic was to be put up for sale in Brussels on December 10 by the Millon auction house.
The value of this 32×17 cm gouache, dating from 1963, is estimated at 400,000 to 500,000 euros. It is being sold by an individual who claims to have had it for “more than 50 years”. Uderzo had offered it “during a dinner with friends,” Millon said at the end of November in a press release. “The objective is in the short term to prevent the sale, in any case to have the time to shed as much light as possible on the circumstances of the possession of this board and perhaps even to recover it in the long term », explained Me Orly Rezlan, lawyer for Sylvie Uderzo, confirming information from daily Le Figaro.
The complaint was filed for concealment of breach of trust or theft. The lawyer points out that Albert Uderzo used to autograph the boards he offered, but this one is not. According to Me Rezlan, Sylvie Uderzo and her mother were informed by the auction house of the sale, with “a narrative” which “seemed quite vague” on the conditions of obtaining the work by the seller’s father .
The sale now “uncertain”
Arnaud de Partz, general manager of Millon Belgium, indicated that he had been informed of the complaint without having yet received it. He acknowledges that the sale is now “uncertain”. According to him, the drawing was indeed given by Albert Uderzo to a friend, whose son now wants to sell it. “There are many boards that were donated and have not been autographed,” says Arnaud de Partz, emphasizing that at the time these originals had “no value.” “We are sure of our rights. We have all the history. We have a photo (of the seller’s father) with Uderzo, it is certain that they knew each other,” he added.
Huge success in cinema, with nearly 25 million admissions worldwide for “Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra” (2002), the adventures of the Gaul in Egypt were firstly a comic book album. On the front page drawing, Uderzo parodies the poster for the 1963 Hollywood production “Cleopatra”, at the time the most expensive film in history. Uderzo’s Cleopatra takes the same pose as Elizabeth Taylor, Asterix replaces Julius Caesar played by Rex Harrison, and Obelix Marc Antony, played by Richard Burton.
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