Carl Milles, Sweden's greatest visual artist/sculptor, is not well known in America even though dozens of his monumental statues and fountains are scattered around the states of Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Virginia. Most of his work, however, is still in Sweden, and concentrated at his own home in Lindigö at the Millesgarden Museum. I was always somewhat skeptical of his merit, I confess, until I saw it in situ; then I had to acknowledge that he had done what few have, that is, captured whimsy in stone and bronze. This little book lists the locations of many of Milles's works in America. The "Episodes" are transcribed from broadcast-interviews given by Milles at age 77 on the radio in Sweden in 1952. These anecdotes tell of Milles's struggles for recognition, his years in Paris America, and Italy, his impressions of famous and obscure people. Judging by his tone as a teller of anecdotes, Milles was a simple man -- not simple in the sense of stupid, but simple in the sense of open-hearted and sweet-tempered. There were few people, apparently, whom he didn't appreciate. One of the most interesting anecdotes concerns the time of the Dreyfus trials, when Milles happened to be in Paris; he seems to have been sincerely surprised and distressed by the anti-Semitic rage he observed among common people. At age 77, I have a feeling, Milles might have been the ultimate Swedish grandfather, an old man who radiated the assurance that his life had been a success and yours could be also.
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