"Hovsmederna" (=At the blacksmith's)
Signed C. Milles and with foundry mark Herman Bergman Fud. From 1906. Bronze, dark patina. Height 18 cm.
Henrik Cornell, "Milles skönhetsvärld", 1957, reproduced page 59, plate no 2.
Erik Näslund, "Carl Milles - en biografi", 1991, reproduced page 52 and listed at page 333.
Carl Milles was a Swedish sculptor born in Lägga. He studied at the Technical School in Stockholm, at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Auguste Rodin and on study trips to Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. In Paris he came to stay for many years and made a living as an ornament carver. He studied the animals in the Jardin des Plantes (the Zoological Garden) and was strongly influenced by Auguste Rodin. Milles made a breakthrough with a monument to Sten Sture in Uppsala. He exhibited at the World's Fair in 1900 and was later given a solo exhibition at the Tate Gallery in London. Milles was professor of modeling at the Royal Academy of Arts in Stockholm. Well-known sculptures in public places signed by Carl Milles are the "Gustav Vasa" statue at the Nordic Museum, "Orfeusgruppen" outside the concert hall in Stockholm and the "Poseidonfontänen" in Gothenburg.
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