Swedish 19th century painting was marked by the influence from above all German and French art. Landscape painting was in the early 1800's characterized by a romantic view, while portrait- and figure painting often were based on a classical tradition.

In the middle of the 19th century one can observe, in the art of Nils Blommér among others, an interest in the Old Norse and Swedish folk tales. Meanwhile Marcus Larson developed a dramatic mode of landscape painting, clearly influenced by the German painter Andreas Achenbach. During the 1860s and 1870s many Swedish artists travelled to Düsseldorf, where they worked with narrative genre painting.

Late 19th century Swedish art was to a great extent influenced by the French realism. During the 1870s and the 1880s many Swedish artists travelled to Paris to study and work. Among them were painters as Richard Bergh, Ernst Josephson, Carl Larsson and Anders Zorn. At this time many women started to train as artists. Among the most well-known Swedish female painters were Eva Bonnier and Hanna Pauli.

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