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"Luminous Art & Design :: Art & Artists"
Hergé :: Biography and Books"
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Hergé (full name: Georges Prosper Remi) 1907 –1983, was a Belgian comics writer who wrote The Adventures of Tintin and many other comic strips. His work and the drawing style of ‘ligne claire’ had a strong influence on other comic illustrators
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Georges Prosper Remi (1907 –1983), better known as Hergé, was the Belgian comics writer who wrote and illustrated the world famous stories of Tintin. He drew Tintin from 1929 until just before his death. The 23 Tintin books have sold 120 million copies in more than 40 languages.
Hergé did not have a very happy childhood. He was only a boy during the First World War and went to elementary school under German occupation. Hergé’s mother suffered from depression and died young. Georges joined the Boy Scouts troop of the school and found a bright spot in life that would give him his basic outlook. In 1925, Georges would write the comic strip The Adventures of Totor for a national Boy Scout magazine.
In the same period, Hergé started to work for Le XXe Siècle, a conservative, Catholic-oriented newspaper. The editor asked Georges Remi to write a comic strip for the weekly supplement for children, Le Petit Vingtième. Georges created the Scout-like Belgian reporter and traveler Tintin. He wrote the comics with the innovative use of speech balloons.
Hergé never had any formal training in art or drawing. To hide his weak drawing qualities, he developed a new technique: ‘ligne claire’. In this style there is almost no use of shading and every element in the picture is defined by clear black lines and strong colors. The style became very popular in the 1950s and many comic illustrators were influenced by it.
The Tintin books were full with action, humor and satirical references to political situations. This always caused arguments around Hergé’s life and work.
For the book The Blue Lotus, Georges Remi did extensive research and became friends with art student Chang Chong-jen, who would be added as a fictional character in the book as well. In the end the book became a direct message against imperialism with brutal and evil characters. In the book Tintin was a witness to the South Manchurian railway incident (Japan’s excuse to start a war). It revealed a truth of which many people in Europe were not aware. The Republic of China was very pleased with the album but it drew a protest by Japanese diplomats.
During the Second World War, the XXe Siècle was closed down by the Nazis. Hergé started to work for Le Soir, a Nazi-Controlled newspaper. The authorities did not accept the political touch to the strips and Hergé’s stories began to take a new atmosphere away from current affairs. They became politically neutral and more like classical exotic adventures. The impact of these changes showed in reprint, when they were proven to be the most popular.
After the Germans were defeated, Georges Remi was accused of being a collaborator and arrested four times and even imprisoned. During this period he was not allowed to publish his work.
Hergé died in 1983 and left his 24th Tintin book (Tintin and Alph-art) unfinished. It was published as a set of sketches and notes in 1986. There are many unofficial books released as Tintin in Thailand, but these are not part of Hergé’s work and not related to the Adventures of Tintin.
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