Theodor Josef Ethofer was an Austrian painter.

Theodor Ethofer studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna with Carl Wurzinger. He spent the period from 1872 to 1887 in Italy , visiting Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples, as well as Sicily, Spain and Tunis. After a stay in Vienna, he settled in Salzburg in 1898 , where he owned a studio in the Künstlerhaus.

Theodor Ethofer mainly painted genre pictures and cityscapes and he took part in many art salons. His paintings were influenced by the works of August von Pettenkofen.