He was born in the Stora Tuna Parish of
Dalarna, Sweden. He was the son of Johan Fahlcrantz and Gustafva De Brenner. His father was a vicar in Kungsåra parish. His brothers were the sculptor Axel Magnus Fahlcrantz (1780–1854) and the theologian
Christian Eric Fahlcrantz (1780–1866). His great-grandfather
Elias Brenner (1647–1717) was an artist and draftsman. His great-grandmother
Sophia Elisabet Brenner (1659–1730) was a writer and poet. In 1791, he went to Stockholm and secured an apprenticeship as a decorative painter with at the
Royal Dramatic Theatre. After one year, he became a student of
Emanuel Limnell and lived with his family until around 1800. He also received guidance from
Elias Martin and studied landscape painting with
Louis Belanger, who had immigrated from France in 1798. Soon, he began to receive numerous orders for landscapes and
vedute, often composed with atmospheric lighting. He was especially influenced by Martin, who had made study trips to England. Despite his initial success, he had to make ends meet by taking students and selling some paintings at a discount. In 1802, he was named a member candidate (
agré) at the
Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts and became a member the following year. In 1805, he and
Gustaf Erik Hasselgren received stipends from the Academy for a period of four years. He intended to visit Italy but postponed the trip until 1807, when he asked for permission to spend his money within Sweden. This was agreed to on condition that he submit two landscapes to the Academy each year, to show his progress. He continued to receive the stipend as a travel subsidy for foreign trips to Norway (1827) and Denmark (1829). In 1815, he had become a Professor at the Academy. He was also an honorary member of several academies in Europe and the United States. In addition to orders from the Swedish Royal Family, he received several commissions from Tsar
Nicholas I. He remained single until 1849, when he married Anna Sophie Hagström, a shopkeeper's daughter who was thirty years his junior. He died during 1861 and was buried at
St. John's Church, Stockholm. His works may be seen at the
Nationalmuseum,
Uppsala University Library,
Göteborgs konstmuseum and the
Nordiska museet. by Moonlight ==References==