Schwarz studied at the Art Institute of Chicago (1908-1918), at the National Academy of Design (1919-1920), and with Charles Hawthorne on Cape Cod. In 1921 he won the Prix de Rome and a scholarship from the Tiffany Foundation which enabled him to spend three years in Rome. He returned to Europe in 1926 and 1927 with Guggenheim travelling scholarships. He taught at Columbia University 1928-1931. In 1926 he married Lilian Prentice who died in 1935. His second wife was Evelyn Van der Veer.
Schwarz was primarily a muralist. His works hang in the chambers of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, the Oregon State Capitol, the Brooklyn Museum, the University of Nebraska, and in the Domestic Relations and Juvenile Court of Philadelphia. He also painted the reredos and altar of the Church of Saints Timothy and Matthew (26 West 84th Street) and the altar of St. Joseph's Church (West Orange, NJ).
