How to visit and what to see at the HERGÉ Exhibition (Madrid): schedules

Fans of the iconic and world-famous comics of the adventures of tintin They are in luck.

It is time to meet again with your most beloved and unforgettable characters. A unique tour with the most intrepid journalist, his fox terrier Snowy or the endearing ones Hernández and Fernández, more alive than ever.

Land on Madrid The exhibition "Hergé.The Exhibition” to account for the most unknown face of the comic master y Tintin's father.

Hergé exhibition dates at Círculo Bellas Artes in Madrid

After the success achieved in cities such as Lisbon, Shanghai and Paris, the exposure which began to tour the world in 2016 at the Grand Palais in Paris, now arrives at Circle of Fine Arts de Madrid, and you can visit it until the 19 of February of 2023.

An exhibition organized by himself Hergé Museum of Belgium. A unique space in which the universe of this international illustrator comes to life through some of his most precious treasures, such as his historical comics, original sketches, plates and movie clips.

The exhibition explores all the creative processes behind his most emblematic books, his field work, and his influences through more than 350 original pieces. 

Visitors will be able to learn how the Belgian artist worked to create the illustrated stories of the little adventurer, from modeling to coloring.

But not only that, and for the first time in our country we will be able to discover his collector side.

Su private collection of contemporary art, in which we find many of his works inspired by Modigliani, Kleen o Miro.

You will also be surprised by the screen prints of pop artists such as Roy Lichtenstein o Andy Warhol, who made a spectacular portrait of him, along with other works by Serge Poliakoff o Jean Dubuffet and a telegram from Salvador Dalí.

It is a ideal exhibition for the whole family, so that the little ones can learn and have fun at the same time, and so that the older ones can remember their old readings.

El average visit time of the Hergé exhibition It's an hour and a half.

Activities of the Hergé exhibition in Madrid

To promote the exhibition, the exhibition will have different Outdoor Activities throughout the city over the next few months.

The mythical rocket from “The Adventures of Tintin”, for example, has been installed on Gran Vía to give it publicity.

Among these activities, a meeting stands out at the Royal Theatre, round tables or a conference with the Complutense University about literature through the travels of Tintin.

What to see at the Hergé exhibition in Madrid

At the entrance to the Circle of Fine Arts welcomes us Clink in life size knocking on a door. It is the perfect setting for a souvenir photo. 

The exhibition consists of two rooms; the first is the Picasso Room which is on the first floor and where we can see the entire creative process and numerous original books and documents.

The second is the Goya Room which is on the ground floor; is he Eastern corner focused on the Asian travels of the intrepid reporter.

The exhibition begins with death of Hergé in 1983 and continues in reverse, first he shows us his facet of art collector and painter and then the evolution of his comics, until reaching the creation of the first Tintin in 1929.

During the tour we can immerse ourselves in the details and tricks of the cinema that he used to make his works.

A retrospective that explores the entire creative process of drawings, Making off of the albums.

From the first sketches, on paper that almost had holes in it, the transition to ink, coloring and how it was documented.

For this part, a fun set design has been used in which it seems that you are entering the emblematic “Target: the Moon” rocket.

It is one of the most repeated symbols of the Tintin universe, its red and white paintings make us dream of traveling to other worlds, a sample of the adventurous spirit of these books.

Documentary video of the life of Hergé

If you want to delve a little more about the life of Hergé, you can sit and watch a documentary video with an interview with the artist in which he shows us his studio, his collaborators and more details of his work.

At this point in the exhibition, a mural full of Tintin albums in different languages, and in the center, a large cross made with other of its chapters in the Tibet, or the Chinese dragon the blue lotus, in reference to the Tibetan conflict and the Chinese government, something like Tibet crucified by China.

The wall becomes endless if you look at the mirror on the floor, which manages to enlarge the entire image as a whole.

As a final culmination of this first part of the exhibition, you will be able to see in detail a reproduction of Tintin's house, the Cheverny castle in the Loire Valley, who Hergé I use to recreate history.

Many of the pieces in this collection belong to the Hergé Museum, including illustrations, plates, original sketches, preparatory sketches, models, or posters.

You will also be able to understand the artist's relationship with cinema, advertising and everything that surrounded him, elements that were reflected in his comics.

On the second floor we enter fully into “Tintin and the Blue Lotus”.

Hergé He met a Chinese boy in Brussels, Tchan Tchong-jen, which served as inspiration for this fundamental comic in which he makes a thorough analysis of Chinese society. 

At this point you will be able to see numerous photos, studies, sketches and even a box of brushes that his friend gave him.

Hergé collector

The exhibition gives us an account of the man behind the artist, his hobbies, friends and all his interests.

Also included are his advertising works in the 30s, and in the 60s he became a great collector, surrounding himself with various works that he placed on the walls of his home and studio.

Among them we can see some pieces of the Brussels Ethnographic Museum, such as the Bapende mask that inspired Hergé to create the fetish Arumbaya.

Hergé he tried to be a painter; In fact, the first thing we see in the exhibition are some of his paintings inspired by great artists such as Modigliani o Kleen.

His work had influence on the avant-garde movements and especially in the pop Art, but he never wanted to abandon his characters, with whom he could express the problems of the society of his time.

Another prominent place is occupied by portrait that his friend Andy Warhol made of him, is one of the treasures of this exhibition, a screen print made in acrylic on fabric made in 1977.

The exhibition also brings together advertising creations, sculptures and invaluable documents with which he worked or which inspired him.

The newspaper surprises in the shop windows Liberation, original from March 3, 1983, which served as a tribute after his death.

One of the outstanding pieces of the exhibition is the friendly telegram from Salvador Dalí sent to Hergé for his character's 50th birthday Clink.

The note is very funny, chaining insults and expletives so typical of the Captain Haddock.

Who is Hergé

Georges Remi, Hergé, is considered the father of European comics. He himself recognized that this genre was the only means of expression for him. 

But the Belgian is not only the creator of Tintin, also stands out as a graphic designer, publicist and screenwriter. His work has been translated into all languages ​​and his mark is indelible and more alive than ever.

Hergé created the reporter in 1929 Clink and his inseparable fox terrier Snowy.

It was in Le Petit Vingieme, the youth supplement of the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtieme Siècle.

Then came the well-known ones as well. Capital Haddok, and their oaths, Hernández and Fernández and the endearing Castafiore.

The tireless journalist is now more than 90 years old, but he has not lost relevance.

“The Black Island"is the seventh Tintin Adventure Made in 1938, cinematic references to films from the 30s appear for the first time.

The plots and the elaboration of the stories are now more elaborate and enigmatic.

Own Hergé He recognizes that at first his stories were a simple succession of gags, without a common thread, but later he manages to develop illustrated, novelistic and committed stories.

The adventures remain valid and continue to attract young people of all ages today; They are also a constant source of inspiration for writers and film directors.

Tintin in Spain

Clink It arrived in Spain very late, in 1958, during the Franco regime, although years before it had already been published in Portugal or in the Mexican magazine Paquin.

In 1930 the first illustrations were published in a Basque magazine, The pioneer.

At that time, the comic genre, but the publications of Hergé They soon excited everyone from newsstands and, later, in bookstores and hardcovers.

Its introduction was very slow because the albums were very expensive. It was in the 80s when her books achieved total success.

Hergé He traveled to our country on several occasions, visiting the Aran Valley, Zaragoza and Madrid.

As for references to Spain in his work, we find Tenerife, the only place to which our heroes travel, in “Tintin in the Congo” published in 1930.

Hours to visit the Hergé exhibition at the Círculo de Bellas Artes

La Hergé exhibition you can visit it at Circle of Fine Arts of Madrid (42 Alcalá Street), until February 19, 2023.

The Visiting hours of the Hergé exhibition They are, from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 21 p.m.

Hergé exhibition ticket prices in Madrid

The ticket prices They are, in general, 14,90 euros; children between 4 and 12 years old, 8 euros; children under 4 years old, free tickets.

Students, people over 65 years of age or people with disabilities may benefit from a 15% discount on general admission.

If you buy tickets online, you have a management fee of 1,50 euros.