Dhaka, Jan. 14 -- A painting of comic book hero Tintin that for years was kept folded in a drawer is to go on sale at a Paris auction house on Thursday with an estimated sale price of more than 2.0 million euros.

The painting is the work of Belgian illustrator Georges Remi, better known by his nom de plume Herge, who was the author of the Tintin comic books. He died in 1983, reports Reuters.

Herge submitted the painting for his editor as a proposed cover for the pre-World War Two Tintin album "The Blue Lotus," according to the Artcurial auction house.

But Herge's publisher rejected the painting, on the grounds that the colours chosen would make it too expensive to print.

A different Herge image was used for the cover, and the illustra...