Carl Milles

Carl Emil Andersson was born in 1875 at Örby Manor in Uppland. As a young artist he adopted the name Milles – inspired by his father’s nickname “Mille.” His mother died when Carl was just four years old, a trauma that left a lasting mark on the family.



His father had hoped Carl would pursue a military career, but he was a dreamer, fascinated by nature, aquatic creatures, astronomy, and mythology – motifs he would explore through- out his life and art. During his school years in Stockholm, he often slipped down to the harbor, where he would dream of setting out into the world.



Technically gifted, Carl began learning carpentry in his teens. He later studied at both the Technical School and the Higher School of Industrial Arts, graduating with an honorary mention as a ornament sculptor.



In 1897, Carl arrived in Paris thanks to a modest scholarship and was soon joined by his sister Ruth. The siblings both attended evening art classes at the Académie Colarossi and anatomy lessons at the École des Beaux-Arts. Carl also attended astronomy lectures at the Sorbonne.



While in Paris, Carl met artist Olga Granner. The two became secretly engaged at Notre-Dame Cathedral in 1900 – a decisive year for his future. That same year, his first major sculpture, Hylas, received an honorary mention at the Paris Salon. The sculpture appears in the foreground of a photograph of Milles’s studio, with his sister Ruth seen standing in the doorway.



Later that year, after just three years as an artist, Carl’s contribution to the 1900 Paris Exposition was awarded a silver medal – an early breakthrough that marked the beginning of his professional career. 

In the early 1900s, Carl Milles dreamed of creating a museum where art and nature could interact in a total work of art. His vision was to build a sculpture park where his works would be framed by terraces and garden rooms.



In 1907, Carl and Olga Milles purchased some overgrown Herserud cliffs on Lidingö Island. As Carl’s success grew, so did the vision. He began developing the site with the help of his half-brother, architect Evert Milles.



Influenced by National Romantic ideals and artist homes in Europe, the upper terrace – with a residence and studios – was built first. In 1916, the middle terrace was added, and by the late 1910s, the first stairs between the terraces were constructed.



In the 1920s, inspired by Italy and a trip to Pompeii, the home took on a museum-like character. The upper floor remained private, while rooms near the studio became galleries show- casing Carl’s sculptures to patrons and international visitors.



During his time in the U.S. (1931–1951), Carl frequently sent his brother ideas – such as a roller-skating rink, ice rink in the Europa fountain, a swimming pool, and an amphitheatre. The lower terrace became the final addition to the total work of art where sculptures, fountains, and terraces interact in harmonious sightlines.



In 1951, a small one-story house was built on the lower terrace for Anna Hedmark, Millesgården’s secretary and hostess. It was designed by Evert Milles and furnished by Estrid Ericson and Josef Frank.



To preserve the site for the future, Carl and Olga Milles established a foundation in 1936 and gifted Millesgården to the people of Sweden. 

In the early 1910S, Carl Milles began a stylistic shift towards a lighter, more decorative aesthetic. He began work on fountains and reliefs exploring themes of mythology, dance and movement. A recurring source of inspiration was the sea with its aquatic life and mythological naiads and tritons, where the interplay of the water and the surface of the bronze created an illusion of animated movement. Sun Glitter depicts a water nymph riding a dolphin with water spraying from the dolphin’s snout – a work Milles himself described as one of his most successful creations.



In the 1920s – at the height of his career – Milles concentrated his aesthetic expression in the style of Swedish Grace, also known as Art Deco. Swedish cities were expanding and commissioned monumental works such as Europa and the Bull in Halmstad (1924-26), Rudbeckius in Västerås (1923), Folke Filbyter in Linköping (1927). Carl also began work on Poseidon for Gothenburg and the Orpheus Fountain in Stockholm. Commissions were often carried out in collaboration with architects, and clients would approve smaller models before the work was executed in a large format.



During these years international interest in Milles grew. He participated in exhibitions in Italy, Germany, Austria, France and Argentina, and made a big impression at the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris. In 1927, he became the first non- British artist to hold a solo exhibition at the National Gallery in London (now Tate Britain). The exhibition toured to Lübeck and Hamburg the following year – a clear sign of Milles’s growing international importance. 

Carl Milles arrived in the United States for the first time in 1929. During the trip he not only attended the opening of his second exhibition in New York but also met the wealthy philanthropists George and Ellen Booth in Michigan. Booth was looking for a sculptor to teach at Cranbrook Academy of Art, the school he was building near Detroit, and Milles was interested.



The Booths were newspaper publishers. Although their flagship paper, the Detroit News, was based in Detroit, their home was further north in the countryside of Bloomfield Hills. By the late 1920s, George Booth had begun to work with Milles’s acquaintance, the Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen, to transform their estate into an educational community that eventually included schools for boys and girls, an art academy, and art and science museums.



As Milles contemplated moving to Cranbrook to direct the Sculpture Department, there was one small problem – he had no desire to teach. Two years and many conversations later, Booth and Milles came to an agreement: the sculptor would simply “mentor” students in his studio. In 1931, Carl and Olga Milles arrived at Cranbrook where they lived for the next twenty years. In addition to their home, where they displayed Carl’s collection of ancient sculptures, Milles had three studios, including the ten-meter-high space he needed to finish the Orpheus Fountain for the National Concert Hall in Stockholm.



Milles wanted to be surrounded by his sculptures as he was at Millesgården. The four works Booth had acquired, including the playful Jonah Fountain – the only work Milles made at Cranbrook for the campus - were not enough. In 1934 Booth agreed to pay Milles $120,000 – an enormous sum during the Great Depression – for sixty-three additional sculptures. 

Rome with its ancient monuments, stately columns, lively piazzas and bubbling fountains, remained a lifelong source of inspiration for Carl Milles. He began his own collection of Roman and Greek marble sculptures in 1915 and constantly returned to his antiquities, which he called his “library”.



In 1951, after twenty years in the United States, Carl and Olga Milles returned to Europe. They settled at Millesgården – the home and artist centre they had created together on Lidingö. They moved into a new building on the lower terrace, together with Anna Hedmark, a loyal assistant and hostess of Millesgården. Up until 1955, Carl and Olga divided their time between Millesgården in summer, and Rome in winter.



Carl and Olga had acquired US citizenship and were affiliated with the American Academy in Rome, where they had lifetime access to a studio and residence. Carl worked fervently until the very last moment. In his studio in Rome, he completed major sculpture projects such as the Aganippe Fountain (1952-55) for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the St. Martin Fountain (1950-55) for Kansas City.



Carl Milles passed away at Millesgården on 19 September 1955, aged 80 years. Olga then returned to Austria, where she lived until 1967. They are both buried in the small forest chapel on the terrace called Little Austria at Millesgården.



From Carl Milles’s poem envisioning Millesgården in the 1940s:



To the Memory of a Creative Fever

To the Desire to Embellish with Art

For You, Destiny and People

The Future will tell whether the Work was Good 

Carl Emil Andersson is born on Midsummer's Eve, 23 June 1875, at Örby Gård, Lagga parish, Uppland. His parents were Emil Andersson (1843-1910), a military officer, and Walborg Tisell (1846-1879) and he had a sister Ruth (b. 1873). His father Emil's nickname "Mille" inspired the Andersson children to eventually adopt the surname Milles.



Carl's mother dies in 1879. Soon thereafter, Carl's father marries Olga (née Zethrin), and the family expands to include siblings Tage (b. 1883), Evert (b. 1885) and Eivor (b. 1888).



Two of Carl's siblings take up creative professions: his sister Ruth (1873-1941) and his half-brother Evert (1885-1960) is an architect.



Aged 17 years, Carl attended evening classes at the Technical School, where he also became a full-time day student in 1895. Carl spent the summer of 1895 and 1896 working at the Åtvidaberg carpentry factory. He also studied for a time at the School of Crafts at Nääs Manor.

Creates a small wooden horse head fot his diploma in 1897. Receives a diploma as an ornamental sculptor from the Higher School of Industrial Arts. That same year, Slöjdföreningen awards Carl a scholarship of 200 Swedish kronor, which he uses for travel to Paris. He moves into a garret at 28 Rue Bertrand.



Two of Carl Milles's early role models are the sculptors John Börjesson (1835-1910) and Tobias Sergel (1740-1814). In the autumn of 1897, Carl Milles encounters Auguste Rodin's art, which makes a strong impression on him. Two years after arriving in Paris, Carl Milles shows his Man from Martinique. That same year in October he meets his future life partner and artist Olga née Granner.

In 1900, her receives an honorary mention for his sculpture Hylas at the prominent Paris Salon and Clara Rossander (1871-1909) commissions a marble sculpture.



That same year, he is awarded the silver medal at the World's Fair for his smaller sculpture Lyss.

Enters a competition for the Sten Sture Monument in Uppsala. Begins work on the proposal in Paris, which included sculpting based on a live horse in his studio. In April 1902, Carl is awarded fourth prize for a maquette of the monument. Carl Milles, the artists Richard Bergh (1858-1919) and Gustaf Cederström (1845-1933) and the students in Uppsala oppose the decision and receive a great deal of press coverage, after which the decision is overturned in Carl Milles's favour and he is awarded first prize.

Marries Olga and settles in Munich. Carl is impressed by various artist's homes in Munich, including Villa Stuck and Lenbachhaus.

Carl and Olga move to Sweden in 1906 and initially move in with Carl's sister Ruth. She had returned to Sweden from Paris in 1903 due to poor health. Around this time, Olga began taking Swedish language lessons.



Periods of intense work affect Carl's health. In 1907, he travels to Austria and Italy to convalesce at a sanatorium in northern Italy after suffering lung problems. On his return to Sweden Carl begins to build his artist's home, which is completed in the summer of 1909.

Exhibits several works at this notable art and industry exhibition. His works include several versions of Dancers that showcase a novel dynamic and decorative design. The exhibition is a triumph and Milles delights visitors and art critics. There is one voice of disapproval and Milles, who is very sensitive to criticism, takes offence despite his success.

Several commissions and exhibitions, including Europa and the Bull for the Halmstad market square. During this period, he also arouses great interest across Europe.



In 1923, Milles participates in the Gothenburg Tercentennial Exposition with several sculptures, including Sun Glitter which takes on an important role.

Milles exhibits and is awarded the Grand Prix for his sculptures Naiad with Fishes and the Susanna Fountain.

Carl Milles becomes the first non-British artist to have a solo exhibition at the National Gallery in London, Great Britain.



Milles has been thinking about leaving Sweden for some time.These thoughts often arise when critical comments are directed at him or his art. He also felt that he had sensed the envy of other artists in Sweden.

Through Eliel Saarinen (1873-1950), Carl meets the patron George Booth, who offers him a position at the Cranbrook Academy of Art outside Detroit, Michigan. Carl Milles is reluctant to teach, but the offer to serve as "artist in residence" and a house with three studios persuades him to start as head of the newly launched Sculpture Department.



Carl Receives many concurrent commissions for sculpture groups in US cities and also shows his works at exhibitions. Among the most significant are the Brooklyn Museum in 1932, the New York World's Fair in 1939, and an exhibition tour to New York, Boston, and Chicago in 1941.



In the spring of 1933, Carl Milles suffers serious problems with his eyes, as he is diagnosed with glaucoma. He is admitted to Harper Hospital in Detroit, isolated from the outside world for a month. Olga joins him at the hospital and reads aloud to him to pass the time. Eventually, his eyesight is complete restored.

Carl Milles's former student Axel Wallenberg (1889-1996) manages to interest politician Axel Gjöres (1889-1979) in the collection. Gjöres is then able to redeem the collection for 600 000 Swedish kronor.



After the Milles couple return to Sweden, interest grows in the sculptor Carl Milles and Millesgården. In 1951, 47 000 people visit the sculpture park, and by summer 1952, this number rises to 120 000.

Carl and Olga spend their summers at Millesgården and their winters in Rome, where the American Academy gran Carl lifetime access to a studio free of charge. It is there that he creates his last monumental works Hand of God, Aganippe Fountain, Saint Martin and Spirit of Transportation.



At first, Carl and Olga sub-lease a small apartment on Via Pepoli at the Avantine, near the Roman Baths of Caracalla. When operas are performed there, the music flow into their apartment. Their landlord reclaims the apartment and Carl and Olga later live at several different addresses.



Despite the wonders of Rome, Carl longs for Millesgården.

In september Carl Milles writes a poem at his desk in Anne's House at Millesgården. It was intended to be read out at an upcoming inauguration of a flute-playing angel for the City Park in Skövde soon thereafter, but Carl dies in Anne's House on September 19th, before the sculpture is inaugurated.



Today, you play the flute

for us who are gathered here...

May you often visit this hamlet

And often play with joy

That you can bring your report up above

with a joyful heart

And God smiles - when he hears your story.

The Home and Art of Carl Milles: Millesgården - ett konstnärshem, Arvinius+Orfeus publishing, 2016

Patio and Pavillion: The place of sculpture in modern architecture, Penelope Curtis, Getty Trust Publications 2008

Carl Milles – en biografi, Erik Näslund, Förlag AB Wiken, Höganäs 1991

Between Water and Heaven, Elisabeth Lidén, Stockholm 1986

Carl Milles, Ulf Abel, Stockholm 1980

Carl Milles. Hans liv och hans vänner, Henrik Cornell, Stockholm 1968

Carl Milles. Hans verk, Henrik Cornell, Stockholm 1963

Milles skönhetsvärld, Henrik Cornell, Stockholm 1957

Svensk skulptur. Ett bildgalleri, Stockholm, Rottneros 1952

Milles, Alfred Westholm, Stockholm 1950

Carl Milles, Sixten Strömbom, Stockholm 1948

Carl Milles: an interpretation of his work, Meyric, R. Rogers, New Haven 1940

Carl Milles, Carl G Laurin, Stockholm 1930

Carl Milles, M.P. Verneuil, Bruxelles 1929

Carl Milles, Conrad Köper, Stockholm 1913   

Millesgården, Anders Bergström och Catharina Nolin, Atlantis, 2004

Tusen möjligheters rike: aspekter på Carl Milles monumentalskulptur, Eva Nodin, Atlantis, 2005

Carl Milles antiksamling, Johan Flemberg, Atlantis, 2005