Harriet Backer

Harriet Backer ( born January 21, 1845 in Holme beach, † March 25, 1932 in Oslo) was a Norwegian painter. She was a pioneer among female artists in Scandinavia and in Europe.

Life and work

At age 12, she moved with her family to Christiania (now Oslo). She learned drawing and painting at Calmeyer Joachim and Johan Fredrik Eckerberg. She traveled a lot with her ​​sister, the pianist Agathe Backer Grøndahl, through Europe and studied in Paris and Munich. She was heavily influenced by Impressionism, although her artistic work is characterized more by realism. But they belonged to no school of painting. She has been inspired by her friend, the painter Eilif Peterssen.