We Have Rodin's "The Thinker" in Cleveland--But His Feet Have Been Blown Off!

A few days ago I was in the University Circle area of Cleveland, exchanging Cleveland Orchestra tickets at Severance Hall. This area is incredible: Severance Hall, Cleveland Museum of Art, The Natural History Museum, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland Institute of Music, Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals, Cleveland Clinic, Thompson Auto Museum. All sorts of wonderful restaurants, museums, schools, beautiful parks, ponds, tennis courts, etc. Just up Mayfield Road from this area is Cleveland's Little Italy neighborhood, a wonderful place.

Right there, sitting in front of the Cleveland Museum of Art, is one of the most famous sculptures in the world--Auguste Rodin's The Thinker. In Rodin's lifetime, he supervised the casting of fewer than ten full-sized Thinkers. One of the last of these is in front of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

There is a terrific educational presentation on the Thinker. Click here: The Thinker

I'm the one on the right.

Note the legs and feet, blown off in an act of vandalism, 1970.

Early in the morning of March 24, 1970, a bomb was detonated with the power of three sticks of dynamite, severely damaging the sculpture. It was finally decided to display The Thinker in its damaged condition. The bomber was never found and the motivation remains unknown. Police think the Weather Underground was responsible.