Rodin Signs Photo of his iconic sculpture “The Thinker”

RODIN, AUGUSTE. (1840-1917). French sculptor; creator of The Thinker and other well-known masterpieces. SP. (“Aug. Rodin”). 1p. Postcard. N.p., N.d. A signed, original sepia postcard photograph depicting his most famous work The Thinker. Signed in the lower margin beneath the printed message “avec les remerciements de” by both Rodin and French sculptor JEAN TURCAN (1846-1895, “Jean Turcan”), who was employed in the sculptor’s workshop.



Rodin’s characteristic rough-hewn style and virtuoso technique made him the leading sculptor of his time and placed him at the vanguard of modern art. As such, he was regularly sought out for commissions including busts of people of international renown such as George Bernard Shaw and Gustav Mahler. Perhaps Rodin’s best-known work is the monumental and elaborate The Gates of Hell, a pair of bronze doors for the Musée des Arts Décoratifs commissioned in 1880. Inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy, Rodin initially named the familiar thinking figure, which sits at the top pf the doors, The Poet. Though the doors were left unfinished at his death, much of his later work, including The Thinker, drew inspiration from this immense and complex project. In 1884, he made the first bronze cast of The Thinker, followed by several additional casts.



Turcan’s sculptures won him the Prix de Rome, Légion d’honneur, recognition by the Paris Salon and Universal Exhibition, and one work – Ganymede – even inspired a homoerotic poem by Paul Verlaine. However, despite artistic recognition, his financial circumstances forced him to work in Rodin’s studio as a practician, during which time he carved the large marble of Rodin’s The Kiss. His best-known sculpture is his 1883 The Blind Man and the Lame exhibited at the 1888 Salon and eventually installed at his birthplace in Arles.



Overall, in fine condition. [musicandart] [rareunique]