Tom Boutis was born in 1922 in New York City to parents from
Kastoria,
Greece. He worked as a
Federal Art Project artist. Boutis was drafted by the United States Army in 1943. He was a friend of
Vincent DaCosta Smith and in the early 1950s Boutis influenced Smith's early career as an artist. His first solo art show was in January 1955 at
Zabriskie Gallery in New York City. In the 1950s, with artists from the
E 10th Street co-op movement, he established the Area Gallery in New York City which was in operation from 1958 until 1965. in operation from 1972 until 1982. Boutis was a National Academician and member of the
National Academy of Design, joining in 1995. Boutis died on October 29, 2018, at the age of 96. the
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum archives, the
Smithsonian Archives of American Art, among others. == References ==