From 1875 to 1878, he was a student at the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry then, until 1880, studied painting with Knud Bergslien.

[4] The following year, he went to Kvitsøy, supported by a grant from the Schäffers Legat, a fund for painters, sculptors and poets.

On the advice of Andreas Aubert, he travelled to Valdres in 1882, where he painted landscapes and interiors; notably at the Hegge Stave Church.

In 1888 and 1889, he was back in Paris on a state scholarship, studying with Léon Bonnat and Alfred Philippe Roll at the Académie Colarossi.

[5] In 1901, a financial windfall enabled them and their two young children to travel to Italy, but a planned stay in Paris did not come to fruition.

The following year, he sent eighty-five works to an art auction, but twelve were never sold and the others were bought cheaply, which plunged him into doubts about his chosen profession.

Although he had to produce low-quality paintings in large quantities to pay his bills, he was generally happy there and well-respected by the locals.