Axel Fahlcrantz was a celebrated Swedish landscape painter, hailing from a family with deep artistic roots. His father, Christian Eric Fahlcrantz, was a bishop and writer, and his uncles were both prominent in the arts: Carl Johan Fahlcrantz was a landscape painter, and Axel Magnus Fahlcrantz was a sculptor and court carver.

His brother, Carl Johan Fahlcrantz, was a notable book publisher who founded the Fahlcrantz & Co publishing house in 1877.
Fahlcrantz initially pursued studies to become a sculptor at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts from 1874 to 1876 but later shifted his focus to landscape painting under the mentorship of Per Daniel Holm and Edvard Perséus. He was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Free Arts in 1907, reflecting his significant contributions to Swedish art.