306 - MILLY STEGER (1881–1948), GERMANY, EARLY 20TH CENTURY.

MILLY STEGER (1881–1948), GERMANY, EARLY 20TH CENTURY. Bronze sculpture with a nuanced brown patina depicting a young nude woman kneeling on a quadrangular base. Her expressionist face is turned toward the sky, framed by her raised arms in a theatrical pose characteristic of the Art Deco period. Signed “m.St.” on the base. 35 x 13.5 x 15 cm. Milly Steger was a German sculptor. She lived and worked in Berlin and Hagen. A member of the Berlin Artists’ Association (VDBK) from 1927 to 1943, she became an honorary member in 1943. From 1903 to 1906, she studied in Karl Janssen’s private studio in Düsseldorf. During a trip to Paris in 1906, she met Auguste Rodin and Aristide Maillol, and in 1909, she visited Georg Minne in Belgium. Her encounter with Georg Kolbe was pivotal. Steger then turned to Expressionist sculpture, and more specifically to the depiction of androgynous female figures. Their powerful and expressive gestures and postures are partly inspired by Expressionist dance. Her works can be found, among other places, in the collections of the Nationalgalerie Berlin, the Städelsches Kunstinstitut, and the Märkisches Museum Berlin.