Born on the island of Tjörn on the Swedish West Coast, Nordström studied at principskolan, the preparatory school of the Royal Academy of Arts in Stockholm and the private painting school of Edvard Perséus, but was never promoted to the "Antique school" of the Academy and had to continue on his own.
Traveling to Paris in 1881, he was influenced by the impressionists. He spent a couple of years in Grez-sur-Loing, the site of an important colony of Scandinavian artists, practising his plein air painting in the strong French sunlight. He served as chairman from 1896 until its dissolution in 1920.
Later the same year, he settled on Tjörn, using what he had learnt in France about light and colours to depict the landscape where he had grown up.
He spent the summer of 1889 in Visby. Paintings.
In 1885, he joined a group of young artists protesting against the policies and leadership of the Academy. Starting from 1886 he was one of the leading members of Konstnärsförbundet, the formalization of the opposition group.
