Paul Fischer was born in Copenhagen to the fourth generation of a Jewish family originally from Poland. He studied art at the Royal Danish Academy of Art in Copenhagen.
Fischer's early paintings depict city life. He has been called 'Københavns maler' 'Copenhagen's painter' because of his gaining fame for his street scenes of Copenhagen. Later in life he became known as a painter of cities not only in Copenhagen but across Scandinavia and in Italy and Germany. He exhibited his works throughout Europe, notably in the Paris salon in 1890.
From 1891-1895, Fischer made several visits to Paris where he was inspired by the work of the French Impressionists- their loose brush strokes and their depiction of ligth; he also developed an interest in posters, influenced by Théophile Steinlen and Toulouse-Lautrec.
In 1905, when Sweden transferred the sovereignity of Norway back to the Norwegians, Fischer received the commission from the King of Norway to paint the event.
Fischer's paintings are highly atmospheric, capturing the mood and atmosphere of European metropolitan life in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth centuries.
Fischer's works are in collections around the world, including the National Gallery in Denmark and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.