On June 30, 2022, a copy of the most famous work by French sculptor Auguste Rodin, “The Thinker”, will be auctioned at Christie’s Paris. The bronze sculpture is valued between 9 and 14 million euros, and will tour the world, to be displayed in New York and Hong Kong, before landing in Paris to be auctioned.
Very coveted by collectors, there is just a few copies. About forty have been made when the sculptor was alive, until 1917, and 26 more have been released by the musée Rodin past his death, by several foundries, during two periods: 1919-1945 and 1954-1969. Its rarity and celebrity make this piece is very expensive, the latest having been sold for $15,2 million, in 2013, by Sotheby’s in New York.
This very copy represents a seated man, thinking, made circa 1928 by the Alexis Rudier foundry, famous for making some of the most famous bronzes of Rodin’s work. It belongs to a private collection called “Le Grand Style”, coming from a Parisian flat designed by decorator Alberto Pinto, and will be auctioned all together at the same time.
Rodin’s The Thinker is one of the most famous pieces in the history of art, and has been displayed by many museums across the world. The sculpture – that became a stand-alone work in 1904 – used to belong to an order placed by the Musée des arts décoratifs de Paris that wanted to create a huge gate inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy.
Dates and Opening Time
On June 30, 2022
Location
Christie's
9 Avenue Matignon
75008 Paris 8
Access
M°1 and 9 - Franklin Roosevelt
