Helmut Preiss was born in Vienna, Austria. He attended the Viennese Academy of Art at the age of 16 where he studied the painting techniques of the great masters and later used his skills as an artist to start an advertising agency with his brother, which he co owned and operated from ages 22 to 47. During his time with the agency, Helmut established trademark logos for many Austrian and German companies and illustrated over 60 children's books. by 1988, Preiss was ready to become an artist, full time. His works have been bought and collected by Elizabeth Taylor, Madonna, Priscilla Presley, Michael Jackson, Gianni Versace, and Bill and Hillary Clinton among others.

​Preiss held his first major exhibition as an artist in Munich's Haus der Bildenden Kunstler in 1973. His work was interpreted as surrealism, but Preiss referred to it as "lyrical naturalism", in contrast to the Viennese school of fantastic realists." Invitations to exhibit his art across Europe soon followed. By the mid 80's, Preiss had sold over 400 oil paintings and thousands of mixed media works, worldwide. Preiss had a successful exhibition in Beverly Hills, California and then returned to Vienna and his advertising agency. He remained in the agency for one year and in Vienna for another two years, before returning to the United States for good. 

While he was in Los Angeles, Preiss collaborated with Ben Weinstein of the acclaimed Heritage Bookshop on Melrose Avenue, for an exhibition titled, "When Books and Art Merge".  A pivotal factor in Helmut's career was his meeting of Dick Zimmerman. Sharing a common interest, Preiss and Zimmerman hit it off  splendidly and even decided to collaborate on a project they called "Synergy". The mix of Zimmerman's stunning photography and Helmut's brilliant paintings, proved to be a perfect harmony.

In 2004 Preiss had an exhibition of his "Mechanical Men" at the Agora Gallery in New York's Chelsea art district and was invited to show his paintings at the 2005 Biennale in Florence, Italy.