Max Schlager was born in 1906 in Linz. He was the son of the master builder of Linz cathedral, Matthäus Schlager. After attending the School of Arts and Crafts in Halle an der Saale, he settled in Ried in 1938 and took over the Schlager & Herndl sawmill. To keep his wife's and friends’ relatives afloat after they were bombed in the war, he founded the “Rieder Kunstarbeit” operation. This was a small business where craft items such as picture frames, painted wooden dishes, bangles, standard lamps and small pieces of furniture were produced from home. Since Schlager did not want to be dependent on sales of his pictures, he made the most of his education, opening a church painting and restoration workshop.

Max Schlager died in 1982.