Loescher & Petsch

Loescher & Petsch was a photographic studio or partnership documented as active during a concentrated period between 1860 and 1867. Operating during a crucial decade for the development of art and commercial photography in Central Europe, the firm specialized primarily in portraiture and documentation of notable cultural figures.

Ten photographs attributed to Loescher & Petsch are currently represented in major institutional collections, establishing the firm’s significance within 19th-century photographic history. The subjects documented by the partnership included prominent German academic painters, such as Carl Becker, Oskar Begas, Wilhelm Amberg, and Gustav Karl Ludwig Richter. These high-quality prints offer valuable visual documentation of mid-19th century artistic society.

The work of Loescher & Petsch is held in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which secures their place in the history of the medium. Given the age of their documented activity, much of their photographic output is considered to be in the public domain, making these historical images available today as downloadable artwork for research and study.