Josef Lauer was a student at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts under Sebastian Wegmayr, Joseph Mößmer, Thomas Ender and Franz Steinfeld. The flower and still life painter was one of the “most industrious exhibitors”. From 1840, he took part in the annual exhibitions of the Academy at St. Anna and from the early fifties, he was represented in the monthly exhibitions of the 'Österreichischer Kunstverein' (Austrian Art Association). Later, he also participated in exhibitions of the ‘Gesellschaft patriotischer Kunstfreunde‘ (Society of Patriotic Friends of the Arts) in Prague. Along with Joseph Nigg, Franz Xaver Petter and Franz Xaver Gruber, Josef Lauer is one of the most important representatives of Biedermeier flower painting in the tradition of Johann Baptist Drechsler. The artist often enriched his flower and fruit paintings with the depiction of colourful birds, butterflies or other attributes. Fresh colours and a natural, precise reproduction of what is seen are characteristics of his work.