Paris – France – (AFP)
Auction house Christie’s announced on Thursday that it plans to hold a bronze copy of the famous “thinker” statue of French sculptor Auguste Rodin worth 9 to 14 million euros on June 30.
About forty copies of the “The Thinker” sculpture depicting a man sitting in a meditative position, with the lower part of his face in his right hand, were created during Rodin’s life and until 1969, after his death.
The copy, made of black and brown rusty copper, is for sale in Paris, with estimates of between 9 and 14 million euros ($ 9.78 and $ 15.21 million).
The statue was made in 1928 at the Alexis Rodier Foundry, and is named after Rodin’s most famous bronze.
The statue of the “thinker” is part of a private collection entitled “The Important Style”, housed in a Paris apartment designed by Alberto Pinto, and will be put up for sale by Christie on the same date.
Rodin designed “The Thinker” in 1880 as an integral part of “The Gates of Hell” based on the work of the Italian thinker Dante, and the statue became a complete work in 1904, when it was first shown. In Paris.
The Rodin Museum received the statue after the sculptor’s death in 1917, and after his death several foundries completed 26 copies in two consecutive periods between 1919-1945 and 1954-1969.
Like Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” or Edward Munch’s “The Scream”, Rodin’s “Thinker” is one of the most famous works in art history.
The work is on display at Columbia University in New York, before the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, and at the Capizaro Museum in Venice.
The statue will tour several countries starting Friday; It will be on display mainly in New York and Hong Kong before being shown in Paris from June 23rd.
Rodin’s last bid for “The Thinker” pre-2013; A copy sold for $ 15.2 million at an auction organized by Sotheby’s in New York, according to the Artnet website.