Harriet Backer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Harriet Backer (born 21 January 1845, in Holmestrand - died 25 March 1932 in Oslo) was a Norwegian painter who achieved recognition in her own time and was a pioneer among female artists in the Nordic countries and Europe.

Backer was born to an affluent family in Holmestrand. At 12, she moved with her family moved to Christiania where she took lessons in drawing in painting in Oslo, notably with Joachim Calmeyer and Johan Fredrik Eckersberg. She traveled extensively throughout Europe as a companion to her sister, the pianist Agathe Backer-Grøndahl and took further lessons in the course of these trips. She subsequently studied in Paris and Munich and was heavily influenced by impressionism, though her work is mostly characterized by the realist movement. She never belonged to any school but was heavily influenced by her friend Eilif Peterssen.