The daughter of designer Albert Uderzo filed a complaint to prevent the sale of a famous drawing boardAsterix and Cleopatra considering the conditions of acquisition of the work by the seller to be doubtful, the AFP learned on Saturday from his lawyer. The complaint was filed for concealment of breach of trust or theft.
The original cover design.Asterix and Cleopatra The Millon auction house was going to put it up for sale on December 10 in Brussels. The value of this 32×17 cm gouache, dating from 1963, is estimated between 400,000 and 500,000 euros. It is being sold by an individual who claims to have owned it for “more than 50 years.” Uderzo had offered it to him “during a dinner with friends,” Millon said in a press release at the end of November.
Obtaining conditions considered “smoky”
“The objective is to prevent the sale in the short term, in any case to have time to clarify as much as possible the circumstances of the possession of this board and perhaps even recover it in the long term,” he explained to AFP. Orly Rezlan, Sylvie Uderzo’s lawyer, confirms the information from the newspaper Le Figaro.
The lawyer points out that Albert Uderzo used to autograph the boards he offered, but not this one. According to Me Rezlan, Sylvie Uderzo and her mother were informed of the sale by the auction house, with “a narrative” that “seemed quite vague” about the conditions of obtaining the work by the seller’s father.
A sale that has become “uncertain”
Arnaud de Partz, CEO of Millon Belgium, told AFP 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 given by Albert Uderzo to a friend, whose son now wants to sell it. “There are many boards that have been donated and are not autographed,” says Arnaud de Partz, emphasizing that at that time these originals “had no value.”
“We are sure of our rights. We have the whole story. We have a photo (of the seller’s father) with Uderzo, it is certain that they knew each other,” he added.
One of the most emblematic albums.
Great success in cinema, with nearly 25 million admissions worldwide for Asterix and Obelix: Cleopatra’s mission (2002), Gaul’s Adventures in Egypt was first a comic book album.
In the cover drawing, Uderzo parodies the Hollywood production poster cleopatra from 1963, at the time the most expensive film in history. Uderzo’s Cleopatra strikes the same pose as Elizabeth Taylor, Asterix replaces Julius Caesar played by Rex Harrison and Obelix Marc Antony, played by Richard Burton.
Source: BFM TV
