Thorolf Holmboe was a Norwegian painter, illustrator and designer born in 1866 in Vefsn, in Nordland county, Norway. He was the oldest son of Othar Ervigius Holmboe and his wife Sofie Birgitte Andrea Hall. His father was the founder of Tromsø Art Association and  encouraged Holmboe to become an artist. He had one brother, Othar, who also became a painter. His grandfather was Michael Wide Holmboe, son of bailiff Jens Holmboe and brother of politicians Even, Leonhard and Hans Holmboe.

     He studied under Hans Frederik Gude in Berlin from  1886−1887 and with Fernand Cormon in Paris from 1889−1891. He was inspired by many different styles at different points in his career, including Naturalism, Neo-romanticism, Realism and Impressionism. In Paris, he developed an interest in Japanese woodcarving, paintings by the English Pre-Raphaelites and the Gaugin-related Nabis artists. He also became interested in handicrafts and design there, something which was to comprise a significant part of his creative activities.

     Between 1890 and 1915 he was a diligent draftsman of decorative drafts for book bindings, silverware, porcelain, textiles, posters, stamps, company marks, ex libris, vignettes and covers for books and periodicals in addition to illustration work. In 1898, Holmboe was a member of Oslo’s artistic fraternity and a close friend of artists Carl Larsson, Bruno Liljefors, Prins Eugen, and Edvard Munch. In 1899 the artist won a competition for designs for a porcelain service by the Norwegian Association of Handicrafts. He created 12 drawings for a tableware under the motto Wind Chimes (Blaaklokker).

     He achieved artistic success with realistic marine paintings at exhibitions in Antwerp 1903 and 1904, a large diorama for the Norwegian pavilion at the sports exhibition in Berlin 1907, and at his exhibition of Arctic sea motifs in Berlin 1909. Holmboe's main contribution to the Norwegian art industry lies in the works he carried out in from 1906–1925 for Porsgrunds Porselænsfabrik.

     He painted pictures using a combination of the Düsseldorf theatrical perspective and the more recent realistic close-up style. Later he was considered one of the foremost Norwegian artists of the Art Nouveau movement and his works were displayed at a retrospective exhibition at Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum. In 1982 the artist was represented in an exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York.

     Holmboe was appointed a Knight of the 1st Class of the Order of St. Olav in 1900. He was awarded the Petter Dass-medaljen by Nordlendingenes Forening in Oslo during the association's 50th anniversary in 1912.

     The artist is represented in these public institutions:

• The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo

• The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History

• Statens Museum for Kunst (National Gallery of Denmark)

• Musée d’Orsay

• The Oslo City Museum

• The Helgeland Museum

• The Art Industry Museum in Oslo

• Art Museum in Tromsø