Do you love Tintin and his adventures with his faithful dog Snowy? The Musée de la Civilisation in Québec City presents the exhibition “Hergé in Québec City,” celebrating the work of Belgian artist Georges Remi, better known as Hergé. On view from June 21 to October 22, the show follows successful presentations in Paris, Geneva and London and brings to Québec an extensive selection of original materials that reveal the artist’s creative process and wide-ranging career.
The exhibition gathers original pencil sketches, character studies, watercolors and rare documents that illustrate how Hergé developed his iconic comic-strip universe. Visitors can see original drawings of Tintin and his companions, preliminary sketches that show how characters evolved, and finished plates that highlight Hergé’s clear-line style. These pieces are complemented by work that uncovers his activities beyond comics—advertising illustrations, newspaper designs, fashion sketches and experiments in the plastic arts—demonstrating the breadth of his artistic practice.
A notable focus of the exhibition is Hergé’s interest in architecture and set design. Scale models and immersive installations recreate some of the most memorable locations from the Tintin albums, allowing visitors to experience settings such as Marlinspike Hall, Captain Haddock’s ancestral country house, and Tintin’s own apartment. These reconstructions emphasize Hergé’s meticulous attention to detail, from interior furnishings and period decor to exterior facades and spatial composition, offering insight into how environment and place serve as narrative elements in the comics.
Many works on display come from the archives of the Hergé Museum in Belgium, including rare documents that are not often exhibited outside Europe. Together they provide a behind-the-scenes view of Hergé’s techniques: thumbnails, annotated pages, color tests and compositional studies that illuminate his disciplined approach to storytelling and visual clarity. Audio-visual elements and didactic panels contextualize these objects within Hergé’s career and the broader history of 20th-century graphic art, helping visitors appreciate both the creative choices and the historical influences behind the albums.
Beyond the original art, the exhibition explores themes that recur throughout the Tintin adventures: travel and exploration, friendship and loyalty, the tensions of modernity, and the interplay between fact and fiction. The curators present these themes through carefully organized sections that link individual artworks to the recurring motifs and characters readers have loved for generations. This thematic structure makes the exhibition accessible to longtime fans while also providing an engaging introduction for newcomers and families.
Educational components and family-friendly programming accompany the display, offering workshops and guided activities that encourage children and adults to explore cartooning techniques, storyboarding and set design. These activities aim to inspire creativity and to show how drawing and narrative work together to build character and atmosphere. For visitors interested in collecting or conservation, the exhibition also touches on preservation methods used to care for paper-based artworks and archival materials.
Overall, “Hergé in Québec City” presents a thoughtful, richly illustrated view of Hergé’s life and work, emphasizing his mastery of storytelling, line and design. By combining original art, models, archival documents and interpretive materials, the Musée de la Civilisation offers a comprehensive portrait of one of the 20th century’s most influential comic artists, making this exhibition a must-see for fans of graphic art, illustration and cultural history.