Known throughout his life as "Carl", he spent his early years in a seminary preparing to become a priest; however, by age twelve he had opted to pursue an art career instead.

He studied art in Würzburg, left home in his teens and supported himself by restoring paintings in churches and monasteries in Italy, Switzerland and France.

His uncle, Gustav, as general foreman in the Cabinet Department for the Pullman Palace Car Company, got Carl a job as a letterer.

Josephine Herrmann Boigegrain wrote in her biography: "One of his fellow students at the Chicago Art Institute was a young man by the name of Walt Disney.

A year later, they made plans to take up permanent residence in Laguna Beach where they both were active with the local art association, but instead moved back to downtown Chicago where he continued his work.