Thinker in MET

After having travelled to multiple museums around the world, I was shocked to continue to find “The Thinker” by Augustin Rodin again and again in new locations. So, I started to wonder where was the original and what was the difference between them all. According to Wikipedia, there are a total of 28 original sculptures. This comes as no surprise as I saw them in multiple locations around the world with a few variations which I uncovered after I started doing a bit of light research. I realized that only two of the eight sculptures that I have seen were in fact originals. The first and original bronze sculpture is found in the Musee Rodin in Paris, France. The second original one was found in Copenhagen, Denmark in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek , this came as a shock as I was sure at the time that it was a replica.

All other places which I assumed were original were actually replicas which included those found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and Ca’Pesaro in Venice, Italy.

The Thinker can be found at the following locations; just to name a few: National Gallery of Norway in Oslo, Norway, Montreal Museum of Fine Art in Montreal, Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, Canada and National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.

I am sure that as I continue to visit more museums, I will see more of this famous statue. And I will be saying the same thing over and over again: “What are you doing here?

Where have you seen the “The Thinker”?