Born in Vienna, Austria on February 25, 1879, Franz Seraphim Strahalm received his early art training from his father who was a Viennese artist. His mother, Wilhelmina Loria, who was originally from Copenhagen, Denmark (she passed away in the 1920's in Mexico City ), also encouraged him in his work. Strahalm studied at the Hamburg Art School and in Italy and France . In 1909 he immigrated to Mexico City but arrived in San Antonio, Texas in 1911. Strahalm eventually settled in Dallas, Texas where he resided until his death on March 3, 1935.

Considered primarily a painter of landscapes, Strahalm painted numerous local Dallas scenes and Texas “bluebonnet” pictures, as well as murals, figural works, portraits and still life, working in oil, watercolor and tempera. He was a co-founder and instructor of a school of fine painting from 1919 to 1933 and continued to lecture throughout his career. Examples of his murals can be found in the Memorial Library in Shreveport , LA; Power and Light Co. in Dallas, Texas ; the Little Rock Art Museum; and the Ney Museum, Austin, Texas .

Franz Strahalm successfully exhibited at the Royal Academy at Vienna and in Paris before moving to America in 1911. He participated in numerous exhibitions in Boston, Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas, as well as at the Anderson Gallery Exposition in New York, and the Independent Artists Exposition at the Waldorf-Astoria. He received at least two first prize awards, one second prize award and was honored at the Sesquicentennial in Philadelphia .

Strahalm's grandson recounts a family story that from around 1922 through 1923 his grandfather briefly published some of his work under the name of Frank Horst out of frustration for the frequent misspellings and incorrect pronunciation of his name by the American press. According to the story, he changed his name back to Strahalm soon after a reporter in New York asked if his name was pronounced “horse.”

Strahalm was a member of the Society of Independent Artists, the Art Center of New York, Allied Artists of America, Southern States Art League and the Dallas Art Association.