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Guess what, Gabe? What's that, Mango?

So in 1972, a 65-year-old Belgian walks into Andy Warhol's factory in New York City.

Okay.

This sounds like a setup for a really bad joke.

I know.

I promise.

It is not.

It was actually a historic meeting of two art world greats.

So we've got Andy Warhol and Erge, the creator of Tintin.

And while he's best known for his comic books, starring the boy reporter of Tintin and his faithful dog Snowy,

Erge was also a highly knowledgeable art enthusiast and modern art collector.

And so when he traveled to the U.S., meeting Warhol was actually on his bucket list.

And it turns out they had a ton in common. They both did

commercial illustrations early in their careers, and they both kept plugging away until they

achieved global success. That's interesting, but honestly, I'm just enjoying the picturing this

old Belgian guy hanging out in the factory with Warhol. Yeah, well, apparently the two artists hit it off

because in 1979, Erge asked Warhol to paint his portrait, which he did, making a set of

four paintings, similar to the ones you've seen of Marilyn Monroe. And Warhol later explained that

the admiration actually went both ways. He said, quote, Erge has influenced my work in the same way as Walt Disney. For me, Erge was more than a comic strip

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