Claudel and Rodin: A Journey from The Age of Bronze to The Thinker

The first echoes of François-Auguste Rodin’s ascent to fame were heard in 1877, when he exhibited The Age of Bronze, a life-size sculpture of the human body, at the Paris Salon. The realism of the figure caused an uproar. Its idealization and form were so different from known works of the time that many believed it had been cast from a living model. The intense controversy surrounding the piece ultimately contributed to Rodin’s growing reputation. After traveling to Italy in 1876 and conducting extensive studies, he produced Adam, Eve, and The Thinker in 1882. Around this time, he met Camille Claudel—first his student, then his lover.

Claudel, a highly gifted sculptor herself, quickly became a profound source of inspiration for Rodin. To such an extent, in fact, that many art critics began to divide Rodin’s oeuvre into two periods: before Camille and after Camille. During their relationship, they collaborated on a large number of works. Yet their love, disapproved of by society due to Rodin’s marriage and their age difference, brought Rodin inspiration and success while condemning Claudel to tragedy. She spent 30 years in a mental asylum, shunned by society. Being reduced to the label of “Rodin’s second woman” overshadowed her life and art, ultimately leading to her downfall.

In 1880, when the French state commissioned Rodin to create the doors for the newly planned Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, it was said that Camille’s influence permeated the project. Inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy, Rodin constructed The Gates of Hell, working on each of the 200 individual figures sculpted onto the surface. In this monumental work, he placed Adam and Eve on either side of the door, and at the very top he positioned Dante himself—The Thinker.
The Thinker eventually eclipsed the work it belonged to, becoming a universal symbol and ensuring Rodin’s immortality in the history of art.

The original sculpture is housed at the Rodin Museum in Paris. The surviving pieces of Claudel’s own works—many of which she destroyed during emotional breakdowns—are exhibited in the museum’s basement under the label “Rodin’s lover.” Some sources claim that Rodin lived a prosperous life by appropriating Camille’s labor, ideas, and artistic contributions. After these events, Camille Claudel was left alone with her solitude in a mental institution. On one of the walls, scratched with a piece of metal, she left a message for the man she loved:

“What have I done to deserve such loneliness? With love, to Rodin…”

Even after her death, Claudel’s genius and artistry continued to languish under Rodin’s shadow.

Over time, replicas of The Thinker were erected in many countries. In Turkey, the sculpture was installed in the garden of Bakırköy Mental and Neurological Diseases Hospital at the request of Dr. Fahri Celal Göktulga, who served as chief physician there between 1945 and 1960. When journalists asked him about its meaning after the sculpture was completed, Göktulga responded:

“Those outside the hospital are in a worse condition than those inside. This statue is wondering what will become of them.”