Ruth Milles

Ruth Milles, née Andersson (1873–1941), was Carl’s older sister and grew up at Örby Gård outside Uppsala.



She showed artistic talent early on, studied at the Technical School and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, and then travelled to her brother in Paris to study sculpture at Académie Colarossi and École des Beaux-Arts. Despite limited finances, she lived for her art and supported herself as an illustrator.



When Ruth’s health declined, she returned to Stockholm and quickly established herself as a sculptor. She created busts and medallions and received commissions from the Royal Dramatic Theatre (Dramaten). Her works were exhibited internationally, including in Buenos Aires where she was awarded a silver medal, and her sculptures were purchased by the Nationalmuseum. Ruth’s art was characterized by national romanticism, mysticism, and a love of nature.



Despite her own successes, she chose to highlight her brother Carl in her unpublished memoir notes from 1923, where she saw it as her duty to tell the story of his career. In 1932, Ruth moved to Rome, Italy. There she wrote and illustrated fairy tales for collected editions.



Ruth died in Rome in 1941 and is buried in the Protestant cemetery in the city.



Several works by Ruth Milles can be seen in the Artists’ Home at Millesgården.

On April 19, 1873, Ruth Andersson was born at Bällsta Gård, Vallentuna. She showed early artistic talent and studied at the Technical School in Stockholm (1890–1893) and at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (1894–1898).

During the academic year 1898–1899, Ruth was enrolled as a student at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

In the autumn of 1899, Ruth Milles travelled to Paris, where her brother Carl had already lived for a couple of years. He rented a studio for her. An inheritance gave Ruth financial security at first, allowing her to work with sculpture, study drawing at Académie Colarossi, and attend anatomy lectures at École des Beaux-Arts. Ruth made illustrations for Swedish newspapers, Christmas cards, and other commercial work.



The siblings changed their surname to Milles after their father’s nickname Mille. They made friends from different countries, including two girls from Austria who lived in the same building as Ruth. Their names were Olga and Lintschi Granner. During the summers, Ruth travelled to Normandy to work.

Illness forced Ruth to leave Paris in the spring of 1903. At that time, she suffered from constant fever and felt discouraged about her chances of making a living in Sweden and about adapting to what she described as the more rigid conditions at home. Illness would continue to mark Ruth’s life, although the exact cause of her poor health remains unclear.



Back in Sweden, Ruth Milles rented a home and studio on Grevgatan and worked as a sculptor, illustrator, and also as a writer, and was regarded as a promising young artist. She travelled several times in Europe and participated in exhibitions both in Sweden and abroad. At an exhibition in Buenos Aires she received a silver medal and all her statuettes were sold. Nationalmuseum also purchased some of her works.

In 1918, Ruth Milles published her poetry collection Days of Grey, Dreams of Blue (Dagarnas grå, drömmarnas blå). In 1923 she debuted as a children’s book author and illustrator with the book The Troll’s Laughter (Trollskrattet). Earlier she had written and illustrated shorter children’s stories published in various collections. The following year Didrik the Flyer and Other Tales was published, and in 1926 Glohit and Glodit, a book about two trolls, was released. In his memoirs, Povel Ramel described it as one of the great reading experiences of his childhood and a source of inspiration for his future career.

Ruth moved to Rome, where she wrote and illustrated fairy tales for collected editions.

Ruth died in Rome on February 11, 1941, and is buried in the Protestant cemetery in the city.