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The Thinker

Founder Cast by Alexis Rudier French
modeled ca. 1880, cast ca. 1910
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 800
The Thinker was made to sit over the lintel of Rodin’s monumental bronze doorway, The Gates of Hell, contemplating the fate of the damned. Independent bronzes of The Thinker became popular, especially among American patrons. Thomas Fortune Ryan, principal founder of the Rodin collection at The Met, commissioned this cast from the sculptor’s studio. In a real sense, The Thinker is Rodin. Brutishly muscled yet engrossed in thought, coiled in tension yet loose in repose, the sculpture, according to one early twentieth-century critic, embodies both "dream and action."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Thinker
  • Artist: Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon)
  • Founder: Cast by Alexis Rudier (French)
  • Date: modeled ca. 1880, cast ca. 1910
  • Culture: French
  • Medium: Bronze
  • Dimensions: Overall (wt. confirmed): 27 5/8 in., 185 lb. (70.2 cm, 83.9 kg)
  • Classification: Sculpture-Bronze
  • Credit Line: Gift of Thomas F. Ryan, 1910
  • Object Number: 11.173.9
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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The Thinker (Le Penseur), Auguste Rodin French, Plaster, French
The Thinker (Le Penseur)
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1904
Young woman, Auguste Rodin French, Cast plaster, French
Young woman
Auguste Rodin
modeled probably before 1889, cast before 1912
Study of a hand, Auguste Rodin French, Cast plaster, French
Study of a hand
Auguste Rodin
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Study of a hand, Auguste Rodin French, Cast plaster, French
Study of a hand
Auguste Rodin
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Bust of Bellona, Auguste Rodin French, Drypoint, third state of three, before bevelled plate
Bust of Bellona
Auguste Rodin
1882–85

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