Pauline von Koudelka-Schmerling was first taught privately by her father, Josef Freiherr von Koudelka, before becoming a student of Franz Xaver Petter. Koudelka-Schmerling could not have hoped for a better education, for Petter was then already a renowned master of Viennese Biedermeier flower painting. It appears that Koudelka subsequently continued her education with Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller.