His father was a merchant, and later Prussian consul in Newcastle upon Tyne, whilst his mother was the eldest daughter of painter James Wilson Carmichael.
[7] [additional citation(s) needed] After his return to London he made a name for himself as a history painter, with a style influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites and orientalism.
In 1900 he held a big solo exhibition named "A Dream of Fair Women" in the Fine Art Society in Bond Street.
[citation needed] Schmalz was friends with William Holman Hunt, Val Prinsep and Frederic Leighton.
In October 1918, after Germany was defeated in World War I, he adopted his mother's maiden name.