[1] Petrich was born to a staunchly evangelical Serbian father and Hungarian mother Karolina Salkovics (whose portrait is one of his best known works, see below) in the highland border town of Mezőberény.

After painting his cousin's parents, Petrich's obvious talent caused him to abandon his original dream of becoming a writer, and he began studying at Jakab Marastoni art school in 1846.

He then attended Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller's school in Vienna beginning in 1847, studied with Wilhelm von Kaulbach in Munich in 1850, and also took instruction in Rome and Paris.

He was also a popular portraitist, and made a good living in Debrecen and Vienna before settling in Pest following the founding of its permanent collection.

By 1861, he was on the board of directors of the National Hungarian Society of Fine Arts with Miklós Barabás, Jenő Zichy, and Than Mór.