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- Two Hezbollah leaders killed in Israel's Beirut strike
- Hungary Danube waters reach decade high after Storm Boris
- Bagnaia cuts Martin's MotoGP lead with Emilia-Romagna sprint win
- Jackson double fires Chelsea to victory at woeful West Ham
- Fiji beat Japan to lift Pacific Nations Cup
- Kasatkina to face Haddad Maia in Korea Open final
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- Lawyers of women alleging Al-Fayed sex abuse receive over 150 new enquiries
- President Museveni's son backs Ugandan strongman for 7th term
- Norris quickest as Verstappen bounces back in Singapore practice
- Wallabies lament All Blacks' fast start
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- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli strike kills top commanders
- No place like home: Biden hosts 'Quad' leaders
- One dead, 7 missing as heavy rains trigger floods in central Japan
- Zelensky says no UK, US go-ahead to use long-range missiles
- New Zealand edge Australia 31-28 in Bledisloe Cup thriller
- Japan orders evacuations as heavy rains trigger floods in quake-hit area
- New Zealand pilot freed in Indonesia after 19 months in rebel captivity
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- Leading climate activist released from Vietnam jail
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Rodin 'Thinker' auction expected to reach up to 14 mn euros
A cast of "The Thinker" by Auguste Rodin will be auctioned in Paris on June 30, expected to reach between 9 and 14 million euros ($10-$15 million), Christie's said Thursday.
One of the most iconic works of art in the world, it features a man resting his chin on his hand and was originally conceived as a representation of Italian author Dante.
Around 40 copies are in existence -- many of them made after the artist's death in 1917.
The copy on sale in Paris, with black and brown patina, was part of a private Parisian collection and was made in 1928 by the Alexis Rudier foundry that cast several of Rodin's most famous bronzes.
"The Thinker" was initially conceived as a much smaller sculpture in the 1880s, part of Rodin's "Gates of Hell" series based on Dante's "The Divine Comedy".
It was later enlarged and became a standalone piece.
The French state commissioned 26 copies of the statue between 1919 and 1969, and there have been long-running legal battles over other versions of the statue.
As well as copies at the Rodin Museum and his grave just outside Paris, some of the most valuable are found at Columbia University in New York, the Legion of Honor in San Francisco and the Ca'Pesaro museum in Venice.
The statue being auctioned at Christie's will go on tour from Friday, showing in New York and Hong Kong before being presented in Paris from June 23.
The record for a Rodin "Thinker" was set at a Sotheby's auction in New York in 2013, when one sold for $15.2 million.
A.Gasser--BTB