Sunglitter
By Carl Milles
Category: Fountain
About
Of Milles’s many water creatures, Sunglitter is considered his best and was his favorite. The neried (sea nymph) sparkles with youth and life, storming ahead on a dolphin. The upward movement that is so prominent in this sculpture is typical of Milles. In ancient art, nerieds were represented riding fantastic sea creatures and, according to legend, would come to the aid of mariners in distress.
Dimensions: 75″
Year Completed: 1918
Material: Bronze
Owner: Gateway Foundation
About the artist:
Carl Milles
1875-1955
Milles’ work is included in most major sculpture collections. He apprenticed as a cabinetmaker in Sweden, and was the assistant to the sculptor Rodin in Paris. In 1945 he became a United States citizen. Milles is concerned not only with an expression of the inner vitality of his subjects, but also with perfecting the expression of this vitality in terms of swift yet closely knit rhythms of line and mass.
Milles was born in Sweden and studied sculpture at the Technical School in Stockholm. In 1929, after receiving acclaim in Sweden and having an exhibition at the Tate Gallery in London, he accepted a commission in Chicago that brought about his first visit to the USA. In 1931 he became Professor of Sculpture at Cranbrook Academy in Detroit, Michigan, where he remained for many years. Over his long and productive career, Milles received numerous commissions and exhibited extensively both in the US and abroad. In 1945 he became a US citizen and in 1947 was elected a lifetime member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1951 Milles returned to Sweden where he died in 1955.
