30

30 is the name of the auction of thirty original drawings of François Schuiten. The auction is organized by Artcurial and will take place at Artcurial, 7 rond-point des Champs-Élysées, Paris on October 24, 2013 ¹⁾.

“This is a unique event, long overdue” said Artcurial. The author of the famous series “The Obscure Cities” have always refused to sell, except for rare exceptions. François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters even gave away their original pages of the books to maintain the possibility to reprint the books in best quality available in the future ²⁾.

François Schuiten at Artcurial

You can download the (French) announcement of the auction: Announcement

Artcurial Sale: 2429
Location: Artcurial, 7 rond-point des Champs-Élysées, 75008 Paris
Date: 24 Oct 2013 19:00
Auctioneer : François Tajan

These thirty illustrations sweep the period from 1984 to 2012. We find the first image created in 1993 to decorate the metro station Arts et Métiers in Paris (estimate 25,000 to 35,000 euros), the cover of the book by Jules Verne “Paris in the Twentieth Century” in 1994 (25,000 to 35,000 euros ) and a set of illustrations dated 1997 for the World Expo 2000 in Hanover.

It will also be offered a portrait of the artist at work (25,000 to 35,000 euros), conducted as part of the Angoulême Festival in 2003, or a tribute to David by Michelangelo in 2004, Larousse (20,000 to 25,000 euros) ³⁾.

Artcurial published a catalogue of this auction. The digital version can be downloaded: Catalogue.

The thirty drawings that have gone for sale:

François Schuiten had an interview with RFI about the auction.

Eric Leroy, an expert on public sale at Artcurial Schuiten expected higher prices. (photo:D. Pasamonik (L'Agence BD)

With an estimated total price ranged between 656.000 euros and 860.000 euros ⁴⁾, the auction ended with a total selling price of 558.299 euros. An average price per sold artwork of 26.585 euros. The highest selling price was 37.894 euros for L'evasion ⁵⁾.