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www.louisville.edu/
E-mail:
webmaster@louisville.edu
The Louisville (Baltimore) Thinker
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University of Louisville
University of Louisville,
Louisville, Kentucky 40292 USA
Tel. 001-1-800-334-UofL
Auguste Rodin's The
Thinker presides at the front of Grawemeyer Hall. Created in Paris,
the cast is believed to have been supervised by the artist himself and
was first displayed in the U.S. at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904.
According to the University's website, the bronze statue is the only
known cast made from what is called the "lost-wax" method. A
"gift to the City of Louisville", The Thinker was placed in
its current setting in 1949 and has become a symbol of the university.
According to Kirsten Lavin, Public Relations Coordinator at the
Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, this cast orginally was aquired by the
Walter Art Gallery and was deaccessioned to the University of
Louisville. This in confirmed by De Caso, who indicates this first
Hébrard cast was acquired by Henry Walters at the Louisville Purchase
Expostion of 1904. Besides, there are several other lost-wax casts made by
Hébrard. For a detailed overview of Thinker casts, please consult www.penseur.org.
In March 1998, discussion
arose on the alleged idea of the Speed Museum to move the Rodin original
from its traditional spot to a room inside the Speed museum, in order to
preserve it better. Students protested.
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