Thomas Fearnley was born in Fredrikshald in Southern Norway, not far from the Swedish border. He first trained as a military officer, like many other nineteenth century Nordic artists. He left military school in 1819 and began his artistic studies at the Tegneskolen in Christiania. Two years later he moved to Copenhagen to study at the Kunstakadamiet, from 1821-1823. This was followed by study at the Konstakadamien in Stockholm from 1823-1827, under Carl Johan Fahlcrantz. During this time he also travelled in Norway, particularly in Telemark and Setesdal in 1824. Especially important for Fearnley was the summer of 1826 with Dahl in Norway, from whom he learnt to paint from Nature. Thus when he arrived in Dresden in 1829 to study under Dahl, he already had a wide Nordic education which emphasised naturalistic detail less than mood, a feature re-inforced by his acquaintance with Friedrich who exerted a powerful influence on him during this period.Fearnley travelled extensively in the 1830s, visiting Munich, Paris, London, and the English Lake district. From 1832- 1835 he was in Italy, where his paintings show a new lyrical mood, bathed in an atmospheric and warm southern light.From autumn 1836 to early 1838 Fearnley was again in England an the following two years he was in |Norway, spending the winter in Christiania and the summer travelling on painting tours. In 1841 he moved to Munich, where he died the following year.