Sarah Schumann was born in Berlin. Both her father and her mother wer sculptors and taught her basic skills. At the age of 15 she left home and started to live an independent live. When she turned 19 she devoted herself to painting entirely. Five years later she had her first solo show at the Zimmergalerie Franck in Frankfurt am Main. It consisted of "shock"-collages, mostly representations of women. From 1960 until 1963 Sarah Schumann lived in London. During this time she created informal paintings, collages composed of different materials, illustrations (for example for Alice in Wonderland) and her first depictions of Marilyn Monroe.
She moved to Italy in 1963 where she stayed in Piemont until 1968. This was the time of her pink-paintings. She also illustrated Rafael Alberti's poems on angels and produced collages with photographs she had taken herself. To make in incom, she designed book covers for Italien publishing houses. 1968 Return to Berlin.

From 1971 to 1974 Sarah Schumann worked with the women's group "Bread + Roses" based in Berlin.

1974-1977: Along with other women she planned and organized the exibition "Female Artists - international - 1877-1977". Publication of texts written by herself. She begins to produce the first big sized portrait of women.

1982: Trip to India (3 months). First studies of landscape and architecture. The "foreign" becomes a topic

1985 Trip to Kenia (6 weeks): big sized triptychs with topographic views ("The Brown Continent's Colour is Blue").

1986 First work belonging to the series "Early Graves" (the Jewish cemetery in Bleckede).

1982-1989 Trips to the German Democratic Republic ("The Close Distance"). Sarah Schumann visits the parks designed by Lenn and Pueckler-Muskau.

1984-1995 Book covers for the publishers Alibaba and Dvorah.

1989 Second trip to Kenia (8 weeks). Workshop with African artists. Farewell to Africa: Gedi, elephants, the river Mara.

1989 "Dresden Destroyed" (series of painted-over photographs)

Since 1989 Sarah Schumann has created book covers for the edition of Virginia Woolf's complete works published by S. Fischer Verlag in Frankfurt am Main

1990 Works on paper and drawings, for example "Berlin Destroyed by Bombs" (bases on military photographs).

1992 Work an the series "Early Graves" comes to an end. Pigmented paintings on canvas and works an paper.

1992-1995 Trips to Moscow. Sarah Schumann creates the series "Moscow. Ore an Body" and exhibits it at Gallery A 3. Gouache, pigmented painting an canves.

Since 1993 continuous work on portraits and paint images in variations on the madonna theme.

1994-1996 Series "The Oderbruch". Gouache, pigmented painting on canvas.

1995 Works inspired by the Mark Brandenburg. Gouache, pigmented painting on canvas.

1995-1996 Series "The Lake Pyramid and the Pyramid Ashore in Branitz". Gouache, pigmented painting on canvas.

1996 Another trip to Russia (Novgorod. Tredjakov Gallery). Studies of Russian icons.

1997 Series "Monument Chalk Cliffs. Gouache, pigmented painting on canvas.

1997-1998 Series "Animals in Strange Places". Works on paper, in pastel an pencil.

1998 Series "White Nights" (featuring dogs an bears). Works on paper, in pastel an pencil.

1998-1999 Series "Public Swimming Pools. Temples for Swimming. Municipal Swimming Pools. Gouache.

2000 Series "Bridges over Green an Blue". Gouache.

2000-2001 Series "Berlin: Walks in a City". Gouache.

2004-2005 "Expedition Heiligengrab. Wolfs and Dogs". Works on Paper.

2006-2007 Series "Baltic Sea" Plastercast on wood.