Tora Vega Holmström was born and grew up in Scania, where her father was the principal of the folk high school Hvilans Folkhögskola. She received a solid, artistic education, first in Copenhagen from 1896 to 1897, then at the art academy of Valands Kunsthögskola (Valand School of Fine Arts) from 1900 to 1902, and continued her studies later in Dachau, Paris, and Marseille.
In her autobiography Mitt lilla åttiotal, 1959, she describes her education. She is considered to be the predecessor of modernist painting in Sweden and became known first and foremost for her exquisite still-lives and her sensitive portraits.