Andreas Lach studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts from 1837 to 1839 under Thomas Ender, Joseph Mößmer and Sebastian Wegmayr. From 1840 onwards, he took part in the exhibitions of the Academy of Fine Arts at St. Anna, and from the early 1850s in the annual and monthly exhibitions of the Austrian Art Association (Kunstverein). His still lifes and flower paintings were rooted in Biedermeier realism, yet this style was enriched by a new aspect around the middle of the century. As in landscape painting, the depiction of atmosphere became increasingly important in this particular field of painting. Alongside the masterful rendering of visual reality, the aim was also to convey less visible, yet nonetheless present, elements. The large, composed still life gave way to a representation that contained a new, more comprehensive truth. Lachs’s works bear impressive witness to this development.