Carl Thomsen was a master of everyday domestic scenes that lacked overt sentimentality in favour of light melancholy. He lived most of his life in Copenhagen and trained at the Royal Danish Academy under Frederik Vermehren and Wilhelm Marstrand.

He achieved various accolades during his lifetime including the Neuhausen Prize and many of his works are housed in museums. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he resisted the lure of the emerging French avant-garde and stuck to his classical roots.