Hergé
Pedro Alvarez, African Abstract (detail showing Tintin and Snowy), 2002. Collage and oil on canvas, six panels of 45 ¼” x 28 ½”. Collection of the ASU Art Museum, purchased with funds provided by the Museum Store
In Belgium, Janssen had met and befriended the writer and illustrator Hergé, creator of Tintin, the children’s book hero whose adventures, in the company of his little dog Snowy (Milou in French), take him around the world to solve mysteries and to introduce children to faraway places. Tintin is as much a part of children’s lives in Europe as Mickey Mouse is to American children. In 1983, just three weeks before the author died, Hergé introduced Janssen to photographer Stefan De Jaeger.