The thinker / Tänkaren
TheBronze statue (1938) by Marshall M. Fredricks (1908-1998)
The original is in The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University, a state university in the U.S. state of Michigan. It's indoors, so it does not have the lovely patina of this one.
Fredericks created this sculpture after George Gough Booth, the founder of Cranbrook Educational Community, asked him to make a "Thinker" for the steps of the Cranbrook Art Museum similar to Auguste Rodin's renowned Thinker, a cast of which is on the steps of the Detroit Institute of Arts. The pose Fredericks' Thinker assumes is a direct reference to Rodin's sculpture; however, Fredericks' replacement of Rodin's heroic male nude with a bemused chimpanzee is a thought provoking variation on the earlier statue. Fredericks' choice of a chimpanzee reveals his fondness for primates. Fredericks indicated that when Booth saw the compact composition of the chimp stroking his chin, he commented that it was not like Rodin would have done, but Booth was sure the chimp was thinking much more interesting thoughts than most of us are. From [omeka.svsu.edu/items/show/5050]
The thinker / Tänkaren
TheBronze statue (1938) by Marshall M. Fredricks (1908-1998)
The original is in The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University, a state university in the U.S. state of Michigan. It's indoors, so it does not have the lovely patina of this one.
Fredericks created this sculpture after George Gough Booth, the founder of Cranbrook Educational Community, asked him to make a "Thinker" for the steps of the Cranbrook Art Museum similar to Auguste Rodin's renowned Thinker, a cast of which is on the steps of the Detroit Institute of Arts. The pose Fredericks' Thinker assumes is a direct reference to Rodin's sculpture; however, Fredericks' replacement of Rodin's heroic male nude with a bemused chimpanzee is a thought provoking variation on the earlier statue. Fredericks' choice of a chimpanzee reveals his fondness for primates. Fredericks indicated that when Booth saw the compact composition of the chimp stroking his chin, he commented that it was not like Rodin would have done, but Booth was sure the chimp was thinking much more interesting thoughts than most of us are. From [omeka.svsu.edu/items/show/5050]