I know that the Mona Lisa is on exhibit at the Louvre - is the Thinker at the Rodin?

My daughter is a huge fan of both (she's 8) and all she wants me to bring her home is a photo of each. I did some reserach - but I still am not 100%

Thanks so much

Yes, the Thinker is sitting in the garden at the Rodin Museum. Surrounded by rose bushes~and his friend Victor Hugo is not far away.
But wait until you see The Kiss up close! and Camille Claudels "Wave"

and Homage to Balzac.

For the Mona Lisa you'll be better off with a print. Getting close enough to actually see her(and the painting isn't all that big) instead of all the heads and cameras in front of you isn't easy. There's a print shop on in the mini-mall just off the ground-floor entrance to the Louvre.

I don't know, underhill, even with the heads in the way and the crowds, it is still special to see the real Mona Lisa, rather than going to a shop and getting a poster..you can do that anywhere!
Michelle, what a treat that your daughter is so young and already a fan of Rodin! and Da Vinci~

I thought that the daughter wanted her mom to bring HOME a picture of the Mona Lisa--the child won't be at the Louvre, otherwise I would suggest a night visit when the crowds are fewer.

Hi Underhill, I just thought it would still be nice for Mom to be able to see the Mona Lisa in person, before she goes to the shop for the poster

What fun to go to this museum and that and bring home posters and photos! I need someone to send me on that trip!

Well, you could always go to Washington, D.C.'s National Gallery and see the exquisite Leonardo there (the only one in the Americas, I believe), which most people just walk right by.

I didn't find it that thrilling to see Mona Lisa myself, probably because there were so many crowds around it, aS well as the plexiglass, and it's just not one of my favorite paintings -- I find Ingres more thrilling to see at the Louvre, for one. I don't suppose she's a fan of him, though.

By your screenname, Michelle, it sounds like you live in Pennsylvania. There are many cast bronzes of that sculpture in the world (The Thinker)--I've seen several of them in various museums around the US. If your daughter is a big fan, it might be a nice trip for you to go to Philadelphia to the Rodin Museum, as they have one there. That one is just as authentic, since they are casts that he signed. That would be a good treat for her since she isn't going with you to Paris. Maybe you've already been there, though.

I think the original was made for the Gates of Hell and was tiny. It was enlarged and 25 or so casts were made -- one at the Rodin Museum, as well as a copy over his grave. There's one in Ohio and I think 2 in California.

My own reaction is that Mona is more of an abberation than anything else. She is famous not so much because of artistic triumph as she is a celebrity created by the triumph of press agency and a skillful song writer coupled with an immortal singer in Nat King Cole.

I have seen Mona up close and personal more than once. And other than the fact that someone else gave her a great build-up, I came away wondering what others knew that I did not. So La Giaconde has no eyebrows, and that bemused smile is more perhaps she just discovered she is NOT pregnant than it is because she just won the lottery.

However, because of her great reputation among people who don't know a Caravaggio from a Titan or a Rembrandt from a Raphael or a hat trick from a hat rack, she has a certain Halo Effect that commands respect, if not bewilderment.

The bottom line: Go see her even if for a glimpse. After all, one must pay dues to join the club. After that, go see some of the other jewels of the collection such as Winged Victory and the collection of Egyptian sculpture in the basement.

At least Venus is up on a pedestal where you can see her upper parts if not her feet. She is easily the most popular girl in the hallway, judging from the throng all around her.

As for the Rodin collection, we are talking a different order of magnitude. Yes, some of the works of greatness were reproduced more than once, and equally valid copies are elsewhere, but to see them where they seem to belong is a moving experience.

What was special to me was to see some of his works in marble. The bust of Clemanceau is at once a tremendous work of art and a fantastic caricature.
It is a work of art because it captured the essense of the facial expression and inner being of the subject. It is a caricature because makes the old war monger look like a Mongolian war lord, complete with top knot. Clemanceu hated the work, claiming it made him look like an Oriental thug. Well, yes, it did. But who is to say that Rodin did not peer into the man's inner mind and capture the real person in his artistic creation? I think he did.

The upshot of it is this: Go visit the Rodin Gardens. The experience is without peer, and I left there with sort of a dazed feeling. The works or sculputure are moving, the setting is lovely, and the total impact produced by seeing Balzac, the Burgers of Calais, The Thinker, and the Gates of Hell all in a few minutes time is an experience without parallel.

Go, see, experience, enjoy, and remember - always.

Please try to fit the Musee d'Orsay into your schedule. You won't regret it. J.

Poor Mona! I like the theory that she is really a mirror image self-portrait of the artist in drag.

After you see the Nike, Venus, and Mona, trek down to the section with "Primitive" art near the Lion's Gate entrance and be really amazed.

The Louvre is unbelievably huge, so I suggest you visit their web site, take the tour, and find out just what you want to see and where it is. In addition to what has been mentioned above, they have two of Michelangelo's slaves, which are very moving works.

If you have enough time and interest in art, buy the museum pass, good in the Louvre, the Orsay, and I think the Rodin and the Marmottan (which has a wealth of Monet's works. We even enjoyed dining in some of the museum restaurants.

I haven't seen La Gioconda since 1969...

...but I'm glad I own a copy of Christine Lavin's album "Shining My Flashlight on the Moon", the one that contains the song "Two Americans in Paris (Twenty Minutes in the Louvre)" - - http://www.christinelavin.com/smfotmlyrics.html

It makes me smile every time I hear it...

un, deux, trois, quatre...

Best wishes,

Rex

I think the Rodin museum is a wonderfully romantic experience. The stories of his, um, "family" life are amazing. Camille Claudel was fabulously talented. Madame Rodin was fabulously patient. Watch the video of the commerative gathering upon his death. The sculpture named: Je suis belle makes my heart sing. It's how I feel when I'm in Paris. sigh. Well an 8 year old won't have the same reaction, but maybe her Mommy will.

Last week (on a Monday) we didn't quite get to the Louvre right when it opened, we made a few wrong turns on the way to Mona, but we were there by about 9:15 am and there were only 2 other people looking at her...we had all the time we wanted to gaze at Mona Lisa. Seriously, 9 am is not all that early to be somewhere.

Mona Lisa came here to Boston one year and itwas so small that the barrier made it not an exciting art experience. Anyway, I thought she looked like a guy in drag.

How many of us went to the Louvre or the Rodin to see a Mona Lisa or a Thinker, then had our eyes (and worlds) opened wide as we discovered that these were just the very tip of an amazing iceberg.

Hope you both have a wonderful time.

I am trying to remember if flash photos were allowed for the Mona Lisa?? I think that some pictures you were allowed to take photos and others said no picture taking. I know for certain that you are not suppose to take pictures of David in Italy-but I guess that goes under the where were you when you were yelled at thread.