Emile Louis Picault
French, 1833–1915
La Pensée (The Thinker),
ca. 1890
Cast bronze
H. 30 in. x W. 13 1/2 in. x L. 13 in.
Metz 656

Emile-Louis Picault, a late-nineteenth-century Parisian sculptor, studied in the studio of the sculptor Roger, and exhibited his works at the Salon from 1863 to 1909. His known works vary in theme from allegories of patriotic and other virtues, to heroes and other historic or mythological figures. Bronzes such as Perseus and Andromed, (1880), The Flag (1903), Jason (1879), Civic Virtues (1897), and The Birth of Pegasus were published in large editions and widely available at the turn of the century.

This small bronze, La Pensée or "the female thinker," was accompanied by a male version of the subject, perhaps influenced by the more widely known version of The Thinker executed by Rodin.