The Thinker

Sculpture


title = The Thinker
artist = Auguste Rodin
year = 1902
type = Bronze and Marble
city = Paris
museum = Musée Rodin

"The Thinker" ( _fr. Le Penseur) is a bronze and marble sculpture by Auguste Rodin held in the Musée Rodin in Paris. It depicts a man in sober meditation battling with a powerful internal struggle Fact|date=September 2008. It is often used to represent philosophy.

Sculpture

Originally named "The Poet", the piece was part of a commission by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris to create a monumental portal to act as the door of the museum. Rodin based his theme on "The Divine Comedy" of Dante and entitled the portal "The Gates of Hell". Each of the statues in the piece represented one of the main characters in the epic poem. "The Thinker" was originally meant to depict Dante in front of the Gates of Hell, pondering his great poem. (In the final sculpture, a miniature of the statue sits atop the gates, pondering the hellish fate of those beneath him.)" The sculpture is nude, as Rodin wanted a heroic figure in the tradition of Michelangelo, to represent intellect as well as poetry".

Rodin made a first small plaster version around 1880. The first large-scale bronze cast was finished in 1902, but not presented to the public until 1904. It became the property of the city of Paris – thanks to a subscription organized by Rodin admirers – and was put in front of the Panthéon in 1906. In 1922, it was moved to the Hôtel Biron, which was transformed into a Rodin Museum.

More than any other Rodin sculpture, "The Thinker" moved into the popular imagination as an immediately recognizable icon of intellectual activity; consequently, it has been subject to endless satirical use. This started in Rodin's lifetime.

Further casts

Over twenty casts of the sculpture are in museums around the world. Some of these copies are enlarged versions of the original work, and some are sculptures of different scales.

Monumental casts

Asia

* Indonesia
** Canisius College
* Israel
** Tel Aviv in the RAD Data Communications entrance lobby
* Japan
** Kyoto National Museum
** The National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo
* Turkey
** [http://muze.sabanciuniv.edu/english/index.php Sakıp Sabancı Museum] in Istanbul

Europe

* Belgium
** Laeken cemetery, near Brussels, Belgium
* Denmark
** Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen
* France
** Musée Rodin Paris (the original sculpture)
** Saint Paul De Vence
* Netherlands
** [http://www.singerlaren.nl/museum.htm Singer Laren] , Laren (badly damaged by thieves in 2007)
* Norway
** National Gallery of Norway in Oslo
* Switzerland
** Kunsthaus Zürich
* United Kingdom
** Cambridge University (Jimmy Tide House) Cambridge
** [ Burrell Collection - Pollok House Glasgow ]
* The Vatican
** The Vatican Museums' Collection of Modern Religious Art

North America

* Canada
**MacLaren Art Centre, Barrie, Ontario [ [http://www.maclarenart.com/media/media_releases.cfm?ID=198&SR=7 MacLaren Art Centre - Media Releases - The Thinker Reviewed ] ]
* Mexico
** [http://www.museosoumaya.com Museo Soumaya] , Mexico City
* United States
**Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland
**Cleveland Museum of Art (badly damaged by vandalism in 1970, displayed in an unrepaired state) [ [http://www.clevescene.com/stories/15/65/a-god-among-men The Cleveland Free Times :: Freestyle :: Freestyle Lead :: A God Among Men ] ]
**Columbia University, in New York City (outdoors in front of Philosophy Hall on campus)
**Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan
**Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri
**The University of Louisville; Louisville, Kentucky
**The Rodin Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
**The Maryhill Museum of Art, Goldendale, Washington [ [http://www.cityofgoldendale.com/art_culture.shtml City of Goldendale - Arts & Culture ] ]
**The California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco
**Stanford University, Stanford, California
**The Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, California (cast #11 [ [http://www.nortonsimon.org/collections/browse_title.asp?id=M.1970.2.S Browse by Title - Norton Simon Museum ] ] sometimes seen during the Tournament of Roses Parade)
**The Hillstrom Museum of Art at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. April 1 - April 22, 2008
**The National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. [http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pinfo?Object=1008+0+none The Thinker (Le Penseur) ] ]
**Bal Harbour Shops, Miami, Florida [ [http://www.artinfo.com/galleryguide/artwork/19244/5801/6136/auguste-rodin-the-thinker/]

Oceania

* Australia
** The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
** The Sydney Opera House, Sydney

South America

* Argentina
**Buenos Aires in front of the Parliament Building [ [http://www.panoramio.com/photo/6443 Panoramio - Photo of Réplica firmada de &quote;El pensador&quote; de August Rodin ] ]

References

External links

*The [http://www.penseur.org/ Thinker project] , Munich. Discussion of the history of the many casts of this artwork.