Olga Milles
Olga Milles , née Granner (born January 24, 1874 in Leibnitz , † January 3, 1967 Graz) was an Austrian - Swedish artist . She was married to the Swedish sculptor Carl Milles .
Olga Granner grew up in Graz and from an early age showed a strong disposition for painting . Supported by her family, who encouraged her talent, she studied landscape painting at the age of twelve and received a three-year scholarship from the city of Graz. After studying in Munich , she drove across the country in Austria and portrayed wealthy farmers and their children in order to finance her study trip to Paris . In the 1890s she had her own exhibitions in Vienna and Munich. In contrast to Carl Milles, Olga Granner was already a recognized artist when both came to Paris.
In 1898, Olga Granner and Carl Milles met for the first time, two years later they secretly engaged and married in Munich in 1905. In his love letters he called her (in not entirely correct German) "my little hazelnut" and she replied with "my dear growler". With her marriage, however, Olga Mille's earlier artistic expressiveness and her pronounced independence seemed to have been wiped away; she still drew and painted, but less often and with long pauses. While she was constantly self-critical of her ability to doubt, Carl Milles never doubted his colossal size.
In 1906 the Milles couple returned to Sweden and in 1908 they started building Millesgården on Lidingö , a large artist's villa with a studio and sculpture garden, now a museum. However, Olga Milles never really felt at home in Sweden, so it didn't help that Carl Milles had a “Little Austria” designed for her in the garden of the villa. It only flourished in Cranbrook, USA , where the Milles couple lived from 1931 to 1951. After their return to Europe, they lived mainly in Rome , spending the summers in Millesgården.
After Carl Milles' death in 1955, she returned to her beloved Austria, where she lived in seclusion until her death. Her ashes were buried next to her husband in Lilla Skogskapellet (small forest chapel) in Millesgården.
Literature and source
- Carl Milles - en biografi . Wikens förlags AB, 1991, ISBN 91-7119-010-4
- Man måste i varje särskilt case sökamänniskan of bakom facades - om Olga Milles. Retrieved February 18, 2017 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Milles, Olga |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Granner, Olga (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swedish-Austrian painter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 24, 1874 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Leibnitz |
| DATE OF DEATH | 3rd January 1967 |
| Place of death | Graz in Austria |