Carl Trägårdh has been called one of Sweden's only impressionists. He came to Paris in the autumn of 1885 and would spend the following spring and summer in Grez-sur-Loing alongside fellow artists such as Karl Nordström, August Strindberg, and Emma Löwstädt-Chadwick, with whom he was engaged for a time. During this period, he had the opportunity to study the French impressionists, including their last exhibition in Paris in May 1886, and he adopted their approach and technique. In a free yet consistent play of touches, he utilises the theory of complementary colours to a greater extent than most of his Swedish artist colleagues in Grez.

In Grez, he came into contact with the Opponents and participated in Gothenburg in 1886 when the Artists' Association was formed. The following year, he returned to France, where he remained until 1896. He rented a studio in Paris during the winter and painted in the countryside during the summer. In 1889, he spent time in Grez with, among others, his friend Anshelm Schultzberg, exploring painting in the intersection between Naturalism and Impressionism.