Berndes was taught drawing by his father, and was probably also taught by
Gustaf Lundberg and the Danish artist
Cornelius Høyer. In 1794 he spent one year in Britain, where he learned printmaking by
mezzotint, a technique which he introduced to Sweden. He was widely employed as a painter of
portrait miniatures. In this capacity he played an important role in Swedish artistic life at the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th. He produced around 600 portrait miniatures during his life. His services were widely sought after; Berndes received commissions from members of the lower bourgeoisie as well as from the royal court. Stylistically, during a first period from the mid-1780s to 1794, he worked largely in the style of
Peter Adolf Hall, employing "a certain rosy freshness". Following the return to Sweden of
Niclas Lafrensen in 1791 and the appearance of , Berndes was to some extent outcompeted and had to change his style. Following his return from Britain, Berndes adapted stylistically to new ideals, using less vivid colours and in general producing somewhat stricter portraits in the
Empire style. He became a member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in 1803. ==Gallery==