Josef Köpf was born in Vienna in 1873, and is best known, according to Benezit, as a painter of architecture. He studied at the Vienna Academy of Art with J. M. Trenkwald, Pockwalski and Sigmund l’Allemand, and travelled to France and Holland on numerous occasions. He took part in many exhibitions in Vienna, winning the Golden State Medal, the Prize for the City of Vienna and the Golden Laurel of the Vienna Artists’ Unit. He was elected a member of the last in 1903. He also apparently exhibited abroad, and became well-known for his paintings of interiors, still life works and landscapes.