Having studied at an influential Swedish art school for three years, at age 19 Isaac Grunewald (1889-1946) travelled to Paris where he soon began studies at Henri Matisse's academy. In 1909 he gained recognition in his homeland when he exhibited his work with a group of Scandinavian artists known as The Young Ones. He met his future wife Sigrid Hjerten in 1909 and encouraged her to study painting with him in Paris. Having married in 1911, Grunewald and Hjerten from 1912 on regularly exhibited together at home and abroad. Grunewald was a professor at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts between 1932 and 1942 and in 1941 he opened his own art school. During the Second World War Grunewald worked at the renowned Rörstrand porcelain factory.