id:			97797
accession number:	1917.42
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1917.42
updated:		2019-12-20 09:00:05.455000

The Thinker, 1880-1881. Auguste Rodin (French, 1840-1917). Bronze; overall: 182.9 x 98.4 x 142.2 cm (72 x 38 3/4 x 56 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Ralph King 1917.42

title:				The Thinker
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1880-1881
creation date earliest:		1880
creation date latest:		1881
current location:		SE South Entrance
creditline:			Gift of Ralph King
copyright:			

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culture:	France, 19th century
technique:	bronze
department:	Modern European Painting and Sculpture
collection:	Mod Euro - Sculpture 1800-1960
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* Auguste Rodin (French, 1840-1917)  - artist

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measurements: Overall: 182.9 x 98.4 x 142.2 cm (72 x 38 3/4 x 56 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	signed on base near sinister foot: "A. Rodin."
	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Conserving the Past for the Future
	opening date:   2001-03-04T00:00:00
	<i>Conserving the Past for the Future</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 4-May 6, 2001).

	title:		Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art
	opening date:   2006-05-27T00:00:00
	<i>Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* Cleveland, Ohio:  The Cleveland Museum of Art; March 4-May 6, 2001.  "Conserving the Past for the Future."

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PROVENANCE

	purchased from the artist in 1916.
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact: 
This enlarged version of <em>The Thinker </em>is one of less than 10 cast during Rodin's lifetime.

digital description: 


wall description: 
<em>The Thinker </em>was first developed as part of Rodin's <em>The Gates of Hell</em>, 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 <em>Divine Comedy</em>.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Tacha, Athena. <em>Rodin Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1967.
	page number: 	Mentioned: p. 96-97, cat. no. X; Reproduced: p. [53], Plate 68
	url:		https://archive.org/details/RodinSculpture/page/n110

	Tacha, Athena. <em>A Supplement to Rodin Sculpture in the Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974.
	page number: 	Mentioned: p. 130S, cat. no. X
	url:		

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

	Anonymous. "Leftovers/I was Opened." <em>Cabinet </em>65(Autumn/Winter 2017/2018).
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 18-21
	url:		

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

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1917.42/1917.42_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1917.42/1917.42_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1917.42/1917.42_full.tif