In what might be the only news story to go out this month that features the words “Prince” but not “musical genius,” mourning,” or “Purple Rain,” an original watercolor from Antoine De Saint-Exupéry’s beloved novella The Little Prince has made its way onto the open market. The picture—which is expected to sell for roughly $60,000—is currently on display at a Paris auction house.
The picture is being put up for sale by the family of Saint-Exupéry, an aviator, illustrator, poet, and all-around Renaissance man, who published his fable of a stranded pilot and a magical little boy lost together in the desert in 1943.
A film adaptation of The Little Prince was recently acquired by Netflix, after Paramount suddenly dropped it from its distribution schedule. Directed by Kung Fu Panda’s Mark Osborne, the movie blends traditional CGI animation with stop-motion work based on Saint-Exupéry’s illustrations.
Meanwhile, a picture by online artist Fauna93, based on Saint-Exupéry’s cover art for the book, has recently been making the rounds on social media. The image replaces the book’s title character with Prince Rogers Nelson, the musical genius whose recent death has left fans mourning worldwide.
[via Mental_Floss]