Images(6)

The Thinker

Artist Auguste Rodin French, 1840–1917

DateModeled 1880, reduced in 1903, this example cast at a later date

MediumBronze

Dimensions14 3/4 x 7 7/8 x 11 3/8 in. (37.5 x 20 x 28.9 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineGift of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation in honor of Governor Michael F. Easley and Mary P. Easley

Object number2009.1.6

On View

On view

ProvenanceMontreal, private collection; Sale, Sotheby's, London, June 26, 1991, lot 105; sold to Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Los Angeles; given to NCMA, 2009.
Published ReferencesImpressionist and Modern Paintings and Sculpture, Part II, June 26, 1991 (auction catalogue) (London: Sotheby's, 1991), lot 105, illus.

David Steel, entry for The Thinker, in North Carolina Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2010), 382, illus. (color) 16, 383.

"Sharing the Genius of Rodin: The New Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Court and Garden," in North Carolina Museum of Art Preview (Spring 2010), mentioned and illus. (color) 17.

David Steel, Rodin: The Cantor Foundation Gift to the North Carolina Museum of Art (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2010), cat. no. 5, illus. (color), also mentioned 3.

Victoria Scott-Miller, The Museum Lives in Me (Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2022), illus 29 (artist's illustration).Exhibition History“Rodin: Bronzes from the B. Gerald Cantor Collection,” touring exhibition from1988–1994 (venues and dates not known).

Salt Lake City, UT, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, “Rodin: A Magnificent Obsession, Sculpture from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation,” May 20–September 2, 2001; Perth, Australia, Art Gallery of Western Australia, October 4, 2001–December 5, 2001; Canberra, Australia, National Gallery of Australia, December 14, 2001–February 24, 2002; Langwarrin (Melbourne) Australia, McClelland Gallery, March 10–May 19, 2002; Singapore, Singapore Art Museum, June 5–August 25, 2002; Sarasota, FL, Ringling Museum of Art, October 11, 2002–January 5, 2003; Akron, OH, Akron Art Museum, January 25–May 18, 2003; Sioux City, IA, Sioux City Art Center, June 7–August 31, 2003; Lafayette, LA, University Art Museum, September 20, 2003–January 4, 2004; Tulsa, OK, Philbrook Museum of Art, January 25–March 28, 2004; Buffalo, NY, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, April 17–July 3, 2004; Utica, NY, Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, July 24–October 3, 2004; Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Glenbow Museum, October 30, 2004–January 30, 2005; Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, February 26–May 22, 2005; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, June 18–September 18, 2005; Albany, NY, Albany Institute of History and Art, October 15, 2005–January 1, 2006; Hartford, CT, Wadsworth Atheneum, January 28–April 30, 2006; Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, May 27–September 4, 2006; Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Winnipeg Art Gallery, September 28, 2006–January 14, 2007; Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, April 6–July 29, 2007; Storrs, CT, William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, September 7–December 16, 2007; Mobile, AL, Mobile Museum of Art, January 25–March 23, 2008; Fargo, ND, Plains Art Museum, April 17–July 13, 2008; Nashville, TN, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, September 12, 2008–January 4, 2009; Baton Rouge, LA, Louisiana State University Museum of Art, January 24–April 19, 2009; Sioux Falls, SD, Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science, May 9–August 9, 2009.

Memphis, TN, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, “Rodin: The Human Experience,” October 19, 2014–January 4, 2015; Doylestown, PA, James A. Michener Art Museum, February 28–June 14, 2015; Honolulu, HI, Honolulu Museum of Art, July 22, 2015–January 10, 2016.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Alphonse Mucha: Art Nouveau Visionary," October 23, 2021-January 23, 2022.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–present. Object Rights Statement

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