His father, Sven Petter Thörne, was a cobbler. From 1874 to 1880, he studied at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts with Per Daniel Holm. The year he graduated, he was awarded a royal medal for one of his landscapes. The following year, he became an (a type of member candidate) at the Academy. In 1884, he received scholarship that enabled him to make a study trip to Germany, France, Italy and Belgium. He returned to Sweden in 1886 and, in 1891, married Matilda Josefina Wahlberg.
