Ludwig Koch

Austrian (1866-1934)

Ludwig Koch, born in Vienna in 1866, was a painter, sculptor and illustrator.  He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna with Siegmund L’Allemand and August Eisenmenger. Koch was known mainly as a horse and genre painter. As a guest at the Spanish Riding School for many years, he recorded many of the school jumps artistically. The main themes of his genre paintings were scenes of the Viennese and of the imperial house. He was also known for his depictions of military history. In the 1920s Koch was invited to the United States by the U.S. Polo Association who had heard that he was “the finest painter of horses in the world,” to paint the International Polo matches. Koch was a member of the Siebener Club, an art association mainly composed of architects, including Josef Hoffmann, Joseph Maria Olbrich and Joseph Urban.