The Swedish Jenny Nyström studied as a young woman at Gothenburg's Musei-, Rit- och Målarskola, and in 1873 she was admitted to the Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm, where she was a student until 1881. In 1881, she was the first female artist to be awarded the Royal Medal for her painting “Kung Hans och den unge Gustaf Vasa” (King Hans and the young Gustav Vasa), which gave her the opportunity to continue her education in Paris, which she did in the years 1882–1886 at the Académie Colarossi and Académie Julian. In 1884 she exhibited at the Salon in Paris.

Jenny Nyström painted both genre pictures, landscapes, still lifes and portraits, and she carried out many watercolors during her stay in Paris. But she also became one of Sweden's most prolific illustrators, and she is especially known and loved for her countless illustrations for children's books, magazines and postcards. She had her big breakthrough with illustrations for the book Little Vigg's Adventure on Christmas Eve by Viktor Rydberg (1828–1895) in 1875. Through her many Christmas illustrations, e.g. for Viktor Rydberg's poem 'Tomten' in 1881, she was the one who created the Swedish image of Santa Claus - a small, friendly figure with a white beard and red hat - and she is thus considered today as the mother of the 'jultomte'.