ReCreating 'The Thinker' by Auguste Rodin

A modern interpretation of the masterpiece created from The Gates of Hell, commissioned in 1880.

François Auguste René Rodin (1840–1917) was a French sculptor considered to be the founder of modern sculpture. He studied traditionally, taking a craftsman-like approach to his practice. Rodin possessed an unparalleled ability to model complex, turbulent figures in deeply pocketed reliefs across the surface of clay. He is best known for The Thinker, Monument to Balzac, The Kiss, The Burghers of Calais, and the epic Gates of Hell.

Many of Rodin’s most notable sculptures were heavily criticised at the time, clashing with historic figurative sculpture traditions in which works were decorative, formulaic, or overtly thematic. Rodin’s most original works departed from traditional themes of mythology and allegory. Instead, he modelled the human body with naturalism, revealing individual character and physicality. Although Rodin was sensitive to the controversy surrounding his work, he refused to change his style, and his continued output brought increasing favour from government, and from the artistic and intellectual community.

One piece had always captured my attention: The Thinker on a stone pedestal. The work depicts a nude male figure of heroic size sitting on a rock. He is shown leaning forward, his right elbow on his left thigh, supporting the weight of his chin on the back of his right hand. The pose is one of deep thought and contemplation, and the statue is often used as an image to represent philosophy.

Auguste Rodin 'The Re-Thinker' bronze sculpture

Rodin conceived the figure as part of The Gates of Hell, commissioned in 1880, but the first of the familiar monumental bronze castings was made in 1904, and is now exhibited at the Musée Rodin in Paris.

There are 27 known full-sized castings, in which the figure is approximately 185 cm (73 inches) high, though not all were made during Rodin’s lifetime and under his supervision. Various other versions exist, including plaster studies and posthumous castings in a range of sizes.

In 2017, I began collecting brand-segregated plastic and aluminium waste from beach clean-up projects and landfill collections, with the intention of repurposing the material into a better “end of life” use. The first was a rebranded Coca-Cola bottle with the text reworked to read ‘Drink Less’, cast in aluminium exclusively from recycled Coca-Cola drinks cans. That work led me back to Rodin’s The Thinker.

For me, this is a compelling question: what would Auguste Rodin, or indeed the model posing for The Thinker, be contemplating if the work were made today rather than in its original context. With that in mind, in late 2021 I returned to Makers Place, the first carbon-neutral recycling facility I helped open in the Maldives, turning the region’s drinks-industry waste into art; it was during this visit that I conceived this piece.

After scanning an original full-scale work with a mobile 3D laser scanner, I worked towards recreating it with a revised contemporary aesthetic. If Rodin could see the vast quantities of valuable materials carelessly discarded into our landscapes, rivers, and oceans, what would that philosopher be thinking now? Past and present collapse into the same question.

‘The Re-Thinker’ — weight +/- 9,280 grammes; h 23 cm × w 17 cm; edition of VII.

For this complex work I had to explore new casting processes to bring the piece to life, experimenting with pure aluminium, copper, and zinc landfill waste and testing the differing patinas they offered. One version will be cast in pure bronze, but I also explored a Nordic Gold mix (89% copper, 5% aluminium, 5% zinc, and 1% tin) to assess how different alloys shift the surface and tone. In the end it was a marine-grade bronze mix that provided the final work; its special qualities allow for a vibrant bronze finish with a deep green patina.