Born in Tullstorp, Sweden, Nordfeldt moved with his family to the United States in 1892. He worked as a typesetter and attended the Art Institute of Chicago, studying with Frederick Richardson. He later apprenticed with Albert Herter in New York City and studied at the Académie Julian in Paris. After service in World War I, Nordfeldt moved to Taos, New Mexico, and joined the Taos Society of Artists. In the late 1930s he relocated to Lambertville, New Jersey. In the 1930s and early '40s, Nordfeldt taught at various schools, including Utah State College and the Minneapolis School of Art. Nordfeldt explored a variety of subjects and styles but his work is often characterized by flattened forms and distortions of space, that create stylized visions of ordinary places and objects.
