Carl Mills (
1875–
1955), was a world-famous Swedish-American sculptor. Milles was born Carl Emil Wilhelm Anderson in
Uppsala, Sweden, on
June 23, 1875, and grew up in
Stockholm. Influenced by
Rodin as a young man, he studied sculpture in Paris from
1897 until
1904, when he returned to Stockholm. In
1929 he visited the
United States for the first time, and in
1931 he took a position as head of the department of sculpture at
Cranbrook Academy of Art, in
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Milles became a US citizen in
1945.
Milles' work, at first flowing and romantic in the style of Rodin, later became more angular and abstract. As Milles gained in fame he began to recieve larger and more prominent projects, and by the end of his career had profoundly influenced American and World sculpture. Milles became especially noted for his fountains, and many of his best-known works are fountains.
Famous works include the Orpheus Fountain in Stockholm, Poseidon on Götaplatsen in Göteborg, the Peace Monument at St. Paul, Minnesota, the Fountain of the Meeting of the Waters in St. Louis, and several statues in New York's Rockefeller Center. Many other Milles works can be found at Cranbrook Academy and the Millesgården - his home in Lidingö, near Stockholm, now a museum.