Joseph received his training in the family workshop, the Villa des Roses, under the direct supervision of his grandfather. This instruction, although non-institutional, was deeply rooted in the traditions of academic teaching in Lyon.
It was here that he acquired great technical mastery, particularly in the rendering of materials, the precision of line and the subtlety of light effects.

From 1900 onwards, Joseph Perrachon began exhibiting in various regional and national salons.
He regularly took part in the Salon des artistes Français in Paris, as well as ) La Société Lyonnaise des Beaux-arts He was president of the latter between 1931 and 1933.

His work is less academic, more modern and more intimate than that of his grandfather.
They reflect his distinctive sensibility : soft monochrome tones, hushed atmospheres, and an emphasis on silence and the everyday.

His work was the subject of a retrospective in Frankfurt in 1980.