Milly Steger (15 June 1881 in Rheinberg as ''Emilie Sibilla Elisabeth Johanna Steger'' – 31 October 1948 in Berlin) was a German sculptor.

Biography

Milly Steger, born in

Rheinberg Rheinberg () is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approx. north of Moers and south of Wesel. It comprises the municipal districts of Rheinberg, Borth, Budberg, an ...

as ''Emilie Sibilla Elisabeth Johanna Steger'', spent her childhood in Elberfeld where her father was appointed as magistrate. After completing her general education, she received language and propriety education in a boarding school in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. While there, she took instruction in painting and decided to become an artist. In

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was in a do ...

, she then attended a class for plasterers and stonemasons at the local arts and crafts school. From 1903 to 1906, she received private training from

Karl Janssen Karl Janssen (29 May 1855 — 2 December 1927) was a German sculptor working in the Baroque revival tradition; he was born and died in Düsseldorf. Biography Born in a family of artists, his father was an engraver and his brother Peter Janssen wa ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

, as women were not allowed to attend the arts academy. She moved to

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

in 1908, where she began teaching at the Women's Academy at the Society of Berlin Artists. Steger was invited by the art patron

Karl Ernst Osthaus Karl Ernst Osthaus (15 April 1874, in Hagen – 25 March 1921, in Merano) was an important German patron of avant-garde art and architecture. Life Osthaus was born to a wealthy banking family, who also owned several businesses in the textile ...

Hagen Hagen () is the 41st-largest city in Germany. The municipality is located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the south eastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme (met by t ...

in 1910, where she was commissioned to create the first large-scale architectural sculpture for the city, creating four statues of women for the facade of the Hagen Theater. She was involved in the artist circle around Osthaus and made contacts with the sculptors Moissey Kogan and

Will Lammert Will Lammert (5 January 1892 – 30 October 1957) was a German sculptor. In 1959 he was posthumously awarded the National Prize of the German Democratic Republic. Life Germany (1892–1933) Will Lammert was born in Hagen in 1892, the son ...

, the painter

Christian Rohlfs Christian Rohlfs (November 22, 1849 – January 8, 1938) was a German painter and printmaker, one of the important representatives of German expressionism. Early life and education He was born in Groß Niendorf, Kreis Segeberg in Prussia ...

, and the glass painter

Jan Thorn-Prikker Johan Thorn Prikker (6 June 1868, The Hague - 5 March 1932, Cologne) was a Dutch artist who worked in Germany after 1904. His activities were very eclectic, including architecture, lithography, furniture, stained-glass windows, mosaics, tapestries ...

. Steger lived in a house in the artists' colony "Am Stirnband" in Hohenhagen. For the tenth anniversary of the Folkwang Museum in Hagen in 1912, Milly Steger donated a sandstone women's head above the museum portal. In the following three years she designed reliefs for the Stadthalle Hagen. Supported by Osthaus, she participated in exhibitions of the Sonderbund (1910 in Düsseldorf and 1912 in Cologne) and at the German Werkbund Exhibition in Cologne in 1914. Her financial situation deteriorated during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

such that she could no longer afford the rent for her studio in Hagen. In 1917 she returned to Berlin, where she remained until the end of her life. Steger spent much of the rest of her life teaching drawing and sculpture. Her work was also part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics ( German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad ( German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi- ...

. Notable avant-garde patron

Katherine Dreier Katherine Sophie Dreier (September 10, 1877 – March 29, 1952) was an American artist, lecturer, patron of the arts, and social reformer. Dreier developed an interest in art at a young age and was afforded the opportunity of studying art in th ...

collected her work, but much of Steger's unsold work was lost when her studio was destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Just before her death in 1948, Steger was named the honorary president of the

Democratic Women's League of Germany The Democratic Women's League of Germany (german: italic=no, Demokratischer Frauenbund Deutschlands, or ''DFD'') was the mass women's organisation in East Germany. It was established in March 1947 and had the following official aims: *Removal ...

."Revolt, They Said". www.andreageyer.info.
Retrieved 2017-08-10.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steger, Milly German women sculptors 1881 births 1948 deaths Olympic competitors in art competitions