Otto Scholderer studied at the Städel Institute Frankfurt under Johann David Passavant and Jakob Becker until 1851, afterwards working as independent painter. During this period Scholderer became friends with Victor Müller who would become his brother-in-law in 1868. Müller acquainted Scholderer with works by Gustave Courbet. Müller persuaded Scholderer to travel to Paris on several study trips between 1857 and 1858 where he became friends with Henri Fantin-Latour and Eduard Manet who would also have an influence on his work.

From 1858 onwards Scholderer lived and worked primarily in Kronberg in the Taunus. In 1866 he moved to Düsseldorf where he met Hans Thoma. He accompanied Thoma to Paris in 1868, returning to Germany just before the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war. He first settled in Munich where he joined the circle around Wilhelm Leibl. In 1871 Scholderer went to London, only returning in 1899 to Frankfurt am Main.

Otto Scholderer's art historical significance is as the primary mediator between Romanticism and the upcoming Impressionism. His oeuvre was predominantly characterized by portraits and still lifes and, at the start of his career, landscapes.

Otto Scholderer was born in 1834 in Frankfut. He studied from 1849-52 and at the Stadel Institute at JD Passavant. He was an acquaintance with Victor Muller, his future brother, by which he had been advised of Courbet and his visit to Paris (1857/58) encouraged. He also had a bond of friendship with Fantin-Latour. From 1858 Scholderer was mostly based in Kronberg im Taunus, with Anton Burger, Peter Burnitz, and L. Eysen. In 1866 he moved to Dusseldorf. He became an acquaintance with Hans Thoma, with whom he went to Paris 1868.