Tina Regina-Leopoldine Blau was the daughter of a Prague dentist attached to the Austrian army. Tina Blau overcame many obstacles during her lifetime and was the only Jewish woman artist of her generation to be professionally recognized.

Her first private art teacher was Antal Hanely, followed in 1860 by landscape painter August Schaffer and then at the drawing school of Joseph Aigner in 1865. As a result of her father's financial and emotional support, Blau made her artistic debut in 1867 at the Österreichischen Kunstverein (Austrian Art Association) and her work was generally well-received. While visiting Munich and the First International Exhibition in 1869, she discovered the paintings of the Barbizon S...