Background
Backer was born to an affluent family in Holmestrand in Vestfold county, Norway.
Backer was born to an affluent family in Holmestrand in Vestfold county, Norway.
She studied with Johan Fredrik Eckersberg (1861-1865) and with Norwegian theologian and artist Christen Brun (1828-1917) and attended the painting school of Knud Bergslien (1871-1874). She studied in Munich (1874-1878) and was associated with Madame Trélat"s art school in Paris.
She is best known for her detailed interior scenes, communicated with rich colors and moody lighting. At 12, she moved with her family to Christiania (now Oslo) where she took lessons in drawing and painting, notably with Joachim Calmeyer. Later, she was a student of Eilif Peterssen and Léon Bonnat.
Backer lived in Paris (1878-1888).
She studied in Paris and Munich, and was influenced by impressionism, though her work is mostly classified as realist. She never belonged to any school but her work is often compared with that of her friend Eilif Peterssen.
Harriet Backer worked in the tradition of realism in painting, where she is regarded as both a naturalist and an early Impressionist. From 1889-1912, she operated an art school and was an influence on a number of younger artists including Marie Hauge, Lars Jorde and Henrik Lund.
She also gave art lessons to the novelist Cora Sandel.
Several of the largest museums and art collections in Norway have pictures of Harriet Backer, including the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Bergen Museum, and Rasmus Meyers Collection at the Bergen Museum of Artist Lange, Marit Ingeborg (1995) Harriet Backer (Gyldendal norsk forlag).
She was a member of Nordlendingenes Forening and in 1912 he was awarded the Petter Dass Metal (Petter Dass-medaljen).