The 'Thinker' rock
- chet kamat
- Dec 16, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 4
Designed in 1880, Le Penseur or The Thinker is one of the most famous sculptures in the world. Seated on a rock with his chin resting on his closed fist, the figure is depicted deep in the thought.
When I first saw this piece at the Musee Rodin in Paris about 25 years ago I was fascinated by it. I have been fortunate that my work assignments have always had a very significant element of analytic activity and so I identify with what this sculpture represents.
One of my pet peeves about traditional 'work' has been how much of it happens indoors. My work space in my current home, is enclosed by four walls with a large window.
While designing this home, my intention was to be able to step out of my study onto the lawns and continue work calls, for example, while pacing around the garden. Alternately I visualised having a boulder on which I could sit like a modern day thinker, albeit with some clothes on ...
Using a crane, an earth mover and some labour, a large boulder was moved over a 15 feet wall to the deck area outside my study. After placement, the weight of the rock caused it to sink into the soil by about four feet !
The original Thinker sculpture was designed to be seen from below and is normally displayed on a fairly high plinth.
To achieve the same visual effect, we used the natural gradient of our westward sloping gardens to have a relatively larger drop in front of the study - this enabled the rock to be seen in its entirety despite having sunk into the ground and to provide a similar upward looking perspective.
Here is a more recent image when friends visited our home !
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