Early Life, Family and Training

Grete Ingeborg Johanne Andrea Gram was born on 20 March 1853 at the family estate Ask gods, located in the village of Ask within the Norderhov parish of Buskerud, Norway. She was the daughter of Major General Johan Georg Boll Gram and Frederikke Stabell. Growing up in a household of significant standing, Andrea Gram and her sisters were introduced to the arts from a young age, receiving private lessons in reading, singing, and drawing. Her father often observed the development of these early skills with great pleasure.

The path toward a formal vocation was not immediate. It required the intervention of the painter Hans Gude, who convinced her father to permit her to pursue a professional education. This advocacy allowed her to enroll at Knud Bergslien's painting school in Christiania. It was here that she began to refine the technical skills that would define her early output. She developed a particular interest in portraiture, working in a late romantic style that characterized her training during those formative years.

Artistic Career and Travels

Gram’s professional ambitions were centered on the portrait, a pursuit that led her away from the familiar surroundings of Norway. After receiving her initial training, she sought formal instruction in Munich during the 1870s. There, she studied under Eilif Peterssen, a period that helped define her approach to the late romantic style. This mentorship was deeply personal as well as professional; in 1879, Peterssen married Gram's sister, Nicoline.

The influence of her teacher extended into her travels. Gram accompanied Peterssen to Italy, seeking new light and subject matter in the southern landscape. It was during this time, in 1880, that she painted Sulamith seeking Solomon. Although the work was exhibited at the Christiania Art Association, the canvas was later lost to a fire. Despite this loss, her time in Italy remained a significant chapter in her development as a painter of landscapes and portraits.