Hergé: that young Belgian reporter with his white fox terrier

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Hergé inspiration: Montbars the Exterminator

Image from the book Frères de la Coste by Maurice Besson. Represents the filibuster "Montbars the Exterminator", the pirate that inspired Hergé to create the character of "Red Rackham" in The Secret of the Unicorn.

The Belgian George Remi, who signed his name as 'Hergé', was a perfectionist who exhaustively documented his work. Although his comic-book adventures of Tintin were fictional, almost every panel of his work is based on a photograph, ad, postcard or an illustration from a book.

This exhibition at the Museu d'Història de Catalunya ('Aquell jove reporter belga que tenia un fox terrier blanc') presents the materials that Hergé collected to create his 24 adventures, which span five continents and are an artistic outlook on many major 20th-century events, including the voyage to the moon and Soviet communism.

Hergé obsessively studied historical and political contexts, geography, flora and fauna and transportation; in copying the images he researched, he literally drew from reality to create a new artistic landscape.

This is an opportunity to see how this one Belgian blurred the lines between literature and drawing and between fiction and reality.

The exhibition is open until September 29th and entry is free. For more information, click here.