Ruth Milles (19April 187311February 1941) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

sculptor and writer. She is mainly known for her figurines and

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

Early life and education

Milles was born Ruth Anna Maria Andersson on Örby Manor in Vallentuna near

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden. She was the daughter of Chief Verifier of the brännvin manufacturing in Sweden, August Emil Sebastian "Mille" Andersson (1843–1910) and his wife Walborg Alfhild Maria Tisell (1846-1879). She had two siblings when her mother died in childbirth and gained three half siblings after her father remarried. Her brother was the sculptor

Carl Milles Carl Milles (; 23 June 1875 – 19 September 1955) was a Swedish sculptor. He was married to artist Olga Milles (née Granner) and brother to Ruth Milles and half-brother to the architect Evert Milles. Carl Milles sculpted the Gustaf Vasa statu ...

(1875–1955) and her half-brother Evert Milles (1885–1960) was an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. Unlike her brother Carl, Milles was a college educated artist. She studied at the ''Tekniska Skolan'' (the Technical School), predecessor to the Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm in 1892–93, after which she went on to the

Royal Swedish Academy of Arts The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts ( sv, Kungliga Akademien för de fria konsterna), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, architec ...

in 1894–98, where she was considered talented enough to skip a year. She would also visit the

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century CE ...

which became influential for her future works.

Career

In the autumn of 1898, Milles left for

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, approximately a year after her brother Carl had moved there. She studied at the

Académie Colarossi The Académie Colarossi (1870–1930) was an art school in Paris founded in 1870 by the Italian model and sculptor Filippo Colarossi. It was originally located on the Île de la Cité, and it moved in 1879 to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the ...

and

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...

, and used Paris as base for journeys through France and Germany. Milles and her brother spent much time together in Paris where they collaborated, artistically and economically, in a joint company they started. Among other things, the company sold small

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

figurines, depicting children and characters from

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

s made by her. She spent the summers in the fishing village Briac in Bretagne where she would draw inspiration from the local fishers' life for her sculptures. Her sculptures were made in an early Impressionistic style. While in France, she and her brother changed their surname to Milles after their father's nickname. In 1902, she received an honorary award at the

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in Paris. The next year she fell ill with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. She travelled back to Sweden and settled down in Islinge on

Lidingö Lidingö, also known in its definite form ''Lidingön'' and as ''Lidingölandet'', is an island in the inner Stockholm archipelago, northeast of Stockholm, Sweden. In 2010, the population of the Lidingö urban area on the island was 31,561. It is ...

, where she set up a

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

which she sometimes shared with the wife of her brother Carl, Olga Milles (née Granner). Milles got many commissions from cultural institutions in Stockholm, among them the

Royal Dramatic Theatre The Royal Dramatic Theatre ( sv, Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, colloquially ''Dramaten'') is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's five running stages. The the ...

for medallions and busts of the singer

Jenny Lind Johanna Maria "Jenny" Lind (6 October 18202 November 1887) was a Swedish opera singer, often called the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she performed in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and a ...

and the actor Georg Dahlqvist. In 1904–16, she participated in a number of international exhibitions like in St. Louis (1905) and

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(1910), where she received silver medals for her work,

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(1911), the

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(1915) and the Swedish art exhibition in Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition, Denmark (1916). However, her failing health forced her to abandon her sculpturing and she turned first to painting and later to writing instead. She also made illustrations for books, her own and those of other writers. In 1932, she moved to Rome. Her health deteriorated, among other things she contracted gangrene and had one of her legs amputated. Milles died in Rome in 1941 and was buried in the

Protestant Cemetery, Rome The Cimitero Acattolico (Non-Catholic Cemetery) of Rome, often referred to as the Cimitero dei protestanti (Protestant Cemetery) or Cimitero degli Inglesi (English Cemetery), is a private cemetery in the rione of Testaccio in Rome. It is near ...

. Milles is represented in the

Nationalmuseum Nationalmuseum (or National Museum of Fine Arts) is the national gallery of Sweden, located on the peninsula Blasieholmen in central Stockholm. The museum's operations stretches far beyond the borders of Blasieholmen, the nationalmuseum manag ...

and the

Thiel Gallery The Thiel Gallery ( sv, Thielska Galleriet) is an art museum in the Djurgården park area of Stockholm, Sweden. Represented are the members of the Artists Association (''Konstnärsförbundet'') from the early 1900s as well as one of the world's l ...

. There is also a bust and a painting by her in the home (''Strand'' by lake

Vättern Vättern ( , ) is the second largest lake by surface area in Sweden, after Vänern, and the sixth largest lake in Europe. It is a long, finger-shaped body of fresh water in south central Sweden, to the southeast of Vänern, pointing at the tip of ...

) of Ellen Key.

Sculptures – a selection

* ''Blåsväder'' ("Windy weather") * ''Flitiga Kajsa'' ("Diligent Kajsa") * ''Moder med barn'' ("Mother and child") * ''Flicka med knyte'' ("Girl with bundle") * ''Mjölkflicka'' ("Milkmaid")

Publications

* ''Dagarnas grå och blommornas blå'' ("The Grey of the Days and the Blue of the Dreams") a collection of poems, Nationalförlaget (1918) * ''Trollskrattet'' ("The Laughter of the Troll"), a children's tale, Åhlén & Åkerlund (1923) * ''Didrik Flygare'' ("Didrik the Aviator"), a children's tale, Almqvist & Wiksell (1924) * ''Glohit och Glodit'' ("Looky Here and Looky There"), a children's tale, Svenska andelsförlaget (1926)

References

External links