Carl Milles
For condition report contact specialist
Wild Boar
Signed Carl Milles. Numbered and dated No 5 1947. Foundry mark Herman Bergman, fud. Bronze with green patina. Height 25 cm.
Literature
Henrik Cornell, "Carl Milles -Hans verk", 1963, compare larger version of the motif in the courtyard of Tändstickspalatset, Stockholm, illustrated p. 76.
Erik Näslund, "Carl Milles -en biografi", compare larger version of the motif in the courtyard of Tändstickspalatset, Stockholm, illustrated p. 225.
More information
To the inner courtyard of Ivar Kreuger’s "Tändstickspalatset" on Västra Trädgårdsgatan in Stockholm, Carl Milles created an elegant Diana-fountain in the late 1920s. The goddess of the hunt, Diana, is placed at the top while the animals gaze up at her from below. In the basin of the fountain, besides the wild animals, there is also a faun resting.
The entire sculpture group consists of seven parts: Diana, two pairs of hunting dogs, two does, and two wild boars. The current auction lot depicts one of the wild boars in a smaller format.
Artist
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.
Read more