Elna Tegner, née Jørgensen, met the artist Rudolph Tegner (1873–1950) in 1911 and they married the same year. The elegant portrait in impressionist style that we have in the auction was painted by Elna in 1912, when she was 23 years old.

The couple did not have children, and although there was a lot of focus on Rudolph's career, it probably also gave Elna more opportunity to pursue her own ambitions. She worked with landscapes, still lives and portraits, and together they travelled extensively in Europe and Northern Africa, interrupted by a period in Hellerup during World War 2.

While Elna Tegner does not seem to have asserted herself or enjoyed any particular attention in Danish art circles, she exhibited regularly in France, where the couple lived from 1926 to 1940. During this period, she was portrayed several times by Gerda Wegener (1886–1940), who also lived in France and enjoyed her greatest success there. Elna Tegner's exhibition activity was mainly centred around three exhibition venues: Union des Femmes Peintres & Sculpteurs, Exposition Societé des Artistes Independants and Salon d'Art Francais Independent, where she exhibited in 1929–34.

With her personal fortune, Elna Tegner also played the role of patron - she supported her husband financially and used her inheritance to build Rudolph Tegners Museum & Sculpture Park. Today, the museum houses both his and her art and they are both buried in the foundation of the museum.