Carl Milles Turns 150: A Monumental Tribute to Sweden’s Master Sculptor
Written by Ulrika LindqvistThis summer marks 150 years since the birth of Carl Milles (1875–1955), one of Sweden’s most internationally celebrated sculptors. To honor the anniversary, Millesgården Museum presents Carl Milles: 150 Years, the most extensive solo exhibition in modern times dedicated to his life and legacy.
Running from 14 June to 28 September 2025, the exhibition offers a rare look into the imaginative world of Milles — a visionary artist known for his dramatic bronzes, dreamlike public fountains, and unique ability to merge mythology, nature, and movement. With over seventy works on display — including original plasters and bronzes, many never before exhibited — visitors are invited to explore the tension between lightness and monumentality that defines his style.
Carl Milles was more than a sculptor; he was a creator of worlds. Alongside his wife, artist Olga Milles (née Granner), he transformed Millesgården on Lidingö into a living gesamtkunstwerk — a harmonious blend of art, architecture, and nature. The site, now a museum, includes their home, studios, an extensive antiquities collection, and a breathtaking sculpture park overlooking Stockholm’s archipelago. In 1936, the couple gifted Millesgården to the Swedish people, a gesture rooted in Carl’s belief that art should be accessible to all.
Milles's journey began in Uppland, Sweden, but his career spanned continents. After studying in Stockholm and Paris — where he worked with Auguste Rodin — he rose to fame in the early 1900s, winning medals at the Paris Salon and World’s Fair. The 1920s marked a golden era: as a professor at the Royal Institute of Art, he created some of his most iconic public works, including Poseidon in Gothenburg and the Orpheus Group in Stockholm.
In 1931, Milles relocated to the United States, where he became the first sculpture professor at the newly founded Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. His monumental works from this period — such as The Meeting of the Waters in St. Louis and The Fountain of Faith in Virginia — solidified his reputation as a master of movement, scale, and symbolism.
Known for pushing the technical limits of sculpture, Milles fused classical figures with water, air, and celestial themes to create the illusion of weightlessness. His work, though rooted in myth and antiquity, contains modern sensibilities — a fusion that continues to captivate audiences today.
The exhibition also engages with the complexities of his legacy. Through archival material, sketchbooks, photographs, and a filmed roundtable discussion, Carl Milles: 150 Years offers a nuanced portrait of a brilliant yet controversial figure. In this rare moment of retrospection, Millesgården invites visitors not only to witness the work, but to reflect on the man behind the masterpieces.
Image courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
