Philipp studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna in the master class of sculpture under the supervision ofCarl Kundmann  and Caspar von Zumbusch. From 1908, he was a member of the Vienna Künstlerhaus and created a number of monuments and fountains in the city of Vienna. During the First World War, in 1916, he was accepted into the art group Imperial and Royal War Press Quarter as a war sculptor, and as an artist capable of frontline service, he was assigned to the alternate company of the military police No. 10 in St. Pölten. In 1917, he worked on new uniforms of the Austro-Hungarian army in his art studio on Dornbacherstrasse 4a in Vienna. Shortly before the end of the war, Karl Philipp received the Knight's Cross of the Order of Franz Joseph with war decorations in recognition of his merits in the war. On November 9, 1918, along with all other artists in the art group over 42, he was dismissed from the service. In the post-war period, he erected a monument to Adalbert Stifter in Vienna   Türkenschanzpark, a monument to Josef Madersperger on Karlsplatz Square and Franziskusbrunnen in the Starchant settlement. Philipp died at the age of 77 in his native Vienna, he is buried in the cemetery in Dornbach. In addition to military portraits, he also made statues of Emperor Franz Joseph (last in 1914).