A first-generation Abstract Expressionist. Stamos was also an art educator and held positions at the Art Students League, Columbia University, Black Mountain College and Brandeis University. Born in Manhattan to Greek immigrant parents and studied sculpture at the American Artist's School. In 1939, he turned to painting, self-taught. He was friends with Mark Rothko, and his first paintings had a similar character to Rothko's. During the 1940s, Theodore Stamos ran a framing shop near Union Square where his customers included modernists Arshile Gorky and Fernand Leger. In 1943, he had his first solo show at Betty Parsons Gallery. In 1950, Theodore Stamos was the youngest artist to be included in the famous "irascibles" photograph of leading Abstract Expressionists