Who owns 'The Thinker' statue in Louisville? Depends on who you ask | Joseph Gerth

Here’s something to ponder.

Who owns the monumental statue of “The Thinker,” August Rodin’s masterpiece, which sits outside the University of Louisville’s administration building?

The city of Louisville and U of L both lay claim to it.

It seems kind of odd to be talking about this now, after the 6-foot-7-inch bronze statue has been sitting at U of L, considering important matters, for nearly 70 years.

But buried in the exhibits that came with the University of Louisville Foundation audit released a few weeks ago was an interesting back-and-forth about ownership of the statue.

More columns from Joseph Gerth

►Has the Trump administration joined the war on Louisville?
►An old lady, a conspiracy and the FBI
►Drop your trousers, drop your title; Dan Johnson should resign

“We have informed the city that it belongs to the state and the university has possession,” Kathleen Smith, the top aide to former U of L President Jim Ramsey, wrote in an email.

But Chris Poynter, spokesman for Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, said in an interview he thinks not.

“The citizens of Louisville own 'The Thinker,' ” he said.

The pedestal even says so. 

Now, I know what you’re thinking – as long as it didn’t end up in Smith’s driveway or at one of Ramsey’s properties in Florida, who really cares? Smith and Ramsey, of course, walked away with huge pots of cash when they were preparing to leave the school and the University of Louisville Foundation.  

And there is some sense to that – but the way that the state has been treating Louisville of late, do you really want to turn over a $30 million asset to a heavy-handed government that could move the statue to Burkesville – or Anchorage – out of spite?

It really seems that if you live in Louisville, it really is yours. At least $50.22 of it is yours. That would be your share.

Arthur E. Hopkins, a lawyer and president of the old Board of Aldermen, died in 1944 of an infected carbuncle and in his will he called for his estate to buy a copy of “The Thinker” and put it in either Central or Cherokee park as a gift to the people of Louisville.

But the city’s Commission on Monuments wanted the statue to be in front of an educational building like a school or library. With Hopkins’ estate’s permission, the city placed it at U of L, then a private university.

Newspaper coverage at the time never said that the city took Hopkins' gift and then “re-gifted” it to U of L like one might do with a tacky Christmas sweater. All the talk in news stories at the time was simply about where to place the city’s newest monument.

In 1949, the estate bought the statue from an art collector in Baltimore for $22,500 and brought it to Louisville.

According to an exhibit in the audit report, the question of ownership arose in 2012 while the statue was removed from its pedestal for cleaning and conservation. While it was gone, some art professors wanted to send it on a national tour.

Peter Morrin, a retired professor, said the idea was to give the school and its arts program some good publicity and to bolster the school’s reputation.

Among the museums that were interested in showcasing the statue, which is the oldest monumental-sized statue of “The Thinker,” were the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, Morrin said.

The plan was eventually rejected by university officials, and the statue was returned to its pedestal with security cameras all around it and a small electronic tracking device inside.

More headlines

►U of L's NCAA appeal to focus on tourney money, keeping banner
►Explosion at Murray State University is under investigation
►Food truck owners file lawsuit over Louisville ordinance

While university officials settled the question of whether to let it tour, they didn’t settle the bigger one.

Smith said in one email that the school’s lawyers had essentially decided that “possession is tenths of the law” and that since the statue had been on campus since the 1940s, ownership transferred to U of L at some point and then onto Kentucky when it absorbed the school into the state system.

“The city has been informed of our legal position, and we do not think they will fight it if we return the sculpture to the front of the building and we take care of it as public art,” she wrote.

But the city disagrees, Poynter said.

“We own it and have an agreement with U of L,” he said. “It’s on permanent loan (to the school) and they maintain it."

What do you think now?

Joseph Gerth's column runs on most Sundays and at various times throughout the week. He can be reached at 502-582-4702 or by email at jgerth@courier-journal.com.