The Thinker
Modeled 1880, reduced in 1903, cast about 1931, cast number unknown, Alexis Rudier Foundry
Bronze
14 3/4 x 7 7/8 x 11 3/8 inches
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collection
“Nature gives me my model, life and thought; the nostrils breathe, the heart beats, the lungs inhale, the being thinks, and feels, has pains and joys, ambitions, passions and emotions. These I must express. What makes my Thinker think is that he thinks not only with his brain, with his knitted brow, his distended nostrils and compressed lips, but with every muscle of his arms, back and legs, with his clenched fist and gripping toes.”
From the publication Saturday Night, Toronto, December 1, 1917. (As quoted in The Sculpture of Auguste Rodin by John Tancock, 1976.)
