He has been characterized by the National Gallery of Art as "among the most important printmakers in America during the 1950s".

He attended Humanistisches Gymnasium in Karlsruhe and the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva, Switzerland.

From 1933 through 1938 he lived in Europe; first in Paris, where he attended the Académie Ranson, then moving to Brussels where he had a solo exhibition at Galeries Arenberg.

There he studied printmaking at the Art Students League of New York, then at Atelier 17 where he was taught by Stanley William Hayter and his fellow students included Marc Chagall, Joan Miró, and Jackson Pollock.

[4] Schrag went on to work at Atelier 17 where he served for a time as director of etching.