After Voltz had been inspired by his father, who was an illustrator, he was influenced by the horse painter Albrecht Adam. On study trips to Holland he became acquainted with the landscape art of Barend Cornelis Koekkoek and the circle of artists around him. As of the 1850s he worked together with his artist friends Carl Spitzweg and Eduard Schleich the Elder. The mutual inspiration of the outstanding graphic artist Voltz and the co-founder of German plein-air painting Schleich is documented in several large joint works with themes that were popular with the Munich School, among them shepherd scenes and herds of cattle, horses and goats amidst a setting with trees.