Friedrich Schiff was born in Vienna in 1908. There, he initially attended the Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt for two years and then studied at the Akademie der bildenden Künste from 1924. Schiff worked as a graphic artist for various newspapers. In 1930, he travelled to Shanghai to visit his cousin Francis Gmehling, who ran an art and antiques shop there and was able to introduce him to the city’s international community. Schiff established himself as an artist and press illustrator and opened a School of Applied Art. His artistic practice evolved around Shanghai’s nightlife and amusement industry which he not only portrayed in his typical slender cartoon style, but also contributed to through elaborate nightclub decorations and adverstisments. Among these venues were the Maskee, Roxy, The Pelican, Maxim, La Cumparsita, Bolero, Blue Peter Bar, DD's and Silk Hat. His cartoons, portraits and other work were published and mentioned in the local press, such as The North China Daily News, The Shanghai Herald, The China Journal, Shanghai Evening Post & Mercury and the Shanghai Daily Tribune.
He was a member of the Shanghai Cartoonist Club, founded in 1942. He held many shows and took part in group exhibitions in various art spaces, among them The Studio, which was operated by Richard Paulick. At the Shanghai Art Club at the Alliance Française (French Club) he exhibited with the Russian émigré Victor Podgoursky, with whom he also sat on the jury. Other exhibition venues were the Shanghai Art Gallery, Jean Lindsay’s Studio, Elie Art Room and Elite Work Room – all located on Nanking Road (now Nanjing Dong Lu).
Together with the photographer and journalist Ellen Thorbecke, he created a series of artistic travel and photobooks, among them: Peking Studies, Shanghai and Hong Kong. In 1947, he emigrated to Buenos Aires, where his sister lived. In 1954, Schiff relocated to Vienna with his family, where he worked as a graphic designer for the Vienna advertising department of Unilever and where he died in 1968.