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Alternate Views

The Thinker

1880-1881

Auguste Rodin

(French, 1840-1917)

France, 19th century

Bronze

Overall: 182.9 x 98.4 x 142.2 cm (72 x 38 3/4 x 56 in.)

Gift of Ralph King 1917.42

Location

SE South Entrance

Fun Fact

This enlarged version of The Thinker is one of less than 10 cast during Rodin's lifetime.

Description

The Thinker was first developed as part of Rodin's The Gates of Hell, a sculptured doorway for a proposed museum of decorative arts in Paris. Intended to be part of a relief directly above the doors, the rugged figure was originally conceived as a generalized image of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), who wrote the Divine Comedy.

Inscriptions

Inscription

signed on base near sinister foot: "A. Rodin."

Provenance

purchased from the artist in 1916.

Citations

"Rodin Memorial Exhibition." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 4, no. 9 (1917): 162-63. Mentioned: pp. 162-163 www.jstor.org

"Modern Sculpture at the Museum." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 4, no. 6 (1917): 108-09. Reproduced: Front Matter; Mentioned: p. 108 www.jstor.org

"Report of the Museum's Second Year." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 5, no. 6/7 (1918): 69-79. Mentioned: p. 70 www.jstor.org

Tacha, Athena. Rodin Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967. Mentioned: p. 96-97, cat. no. X; Reproduced: p. [53], Plate 68 archive.org

Tacha, Athena. A Supplement to Rodin Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Mentioned: p. 130S, cat. no. X

Hudak, Brittany Mariel. "Masked Men, Hatchets, and Bombs: Frank Oriti's Clarity, Rodin's The Thinker, and the Silencing of Art Vandalism." Collective Arts Network. CAN Journal, Winter 2015-2016. Mentioned: p. 65-67; Reproduced: p. 66

Anonymous. "Leftovers/I was Opened." Cabinet 65(Autumn/Winter 2017/2018). Reproduced: p. 18-21

Arendsee, M., and M. Steinman-Arendsee. "Take the CAN disability aesthetics tour, at the Cleveland Museum of art." CAN Journal (Winter 2019/20): 76-87. Mentioned: p. 85; Reproduced: p. 86

Exhibition history

Conserving the Past for the Future. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-May 6, 2001).

Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=The Thinker|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1917.42|author=Auguste Rodin|year=1880-1881|access-date=31 May 2020|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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The Thinker

The Thinker

Auguste Rodin

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