Lucky Luke is the character created by Maurice De Bevere aka “Morris”to which he has dedicated his life and all his creative output and which will make its debut in an auction room. A world first for the “lone cowboy”. With the notable exception of the major retrospective dedicated to him in 2016 by the Cité Internationale de la Bande Dessinée et de l'image d'Angoulême, Lucky Lake has rarely left the pages of his albums. At a time when the Centre Pompidou is celebrating La BD à tous les étages [Comics on every floor], this auction is the culmination of the celebrations for Morris’ centenary, which will begin in December 2023 with his retrospective at the Huberty and Breyne gallery in Brussels.
Sale of 50 pages of original Morris comics, preceded by a public viewing at Christie's in Brussels, Geneva and Paris, will be a unique opportunity for enthusiasts and collectors to rediscover the career of a comics pioneer. The event is configured as a retrospective of the work of one of the giants of the ninth art, a term coined by Morris himself. Estimates for each page of the comic vary from 20.000 to 70.000 euros for a total of 2,4 to 3,4 million euros.
A world first
Of all the pages Morris drew between 1947 and 2001, very few have been seen. The public viewing and auction in Paris offer an exceptional insight into Morris's aesthetic. To date, no work by the artist has been offered at auction. The auction on November 15 will therefore be a world first for one of the greatest artists of the genre.
Morris' success is exemplary, both in terms of talent and tenacity.
He was systematic and very rigorous and developed his own inimitable style. To see one of his original comic pages is to admire the extraordinary flexibility of the drawing, the sparing use of line to achieve maximum effect, the precise decomposition of movements, the remarkable skill with black and white and the uniquely expressive silhouettes. Like other authors of his generation, Morris began dreaming of comics and went to live in the United States where he met René Goscinny, who would later write the scripts for almost half of his albums. Throughout his life he devoted himself exclusively to the development of his flagship comic series, becoming one of the rare authors to devote all his energies to a single character: Lucky Luke.
The adventures of Lucky Luke were first published in 1946 under the title Arizona 1880
The first complete album was released in 1947, followed by 71 more during Morris's lifetime. The 50 pages of comics for sale come from almost as many different albums. They reflect the evolution of a character who became a legend for generations of readers.
Information – Morris: the man who creates Lucky Luke Auction on November 15, 2024 in Paris public auction at Christie's:
- Between 9th and 10th October in Brussels
- Between 22nd and 24th October in Geneva
- From November 9th to 15th in Paris, 9 avenue Matignon
Sale in collaboration with Huberty and Breyne. Expert: Alain Huberty
