Born in Montreal, Canada, with the name of Hiam Galutsky, he first visited St Ives in the early 1930s. Tobias met his wife there and they settled and worked at all manner of menial jobs in cafes and shops for some years, while exhibiting in group shows and venues throughout Cornwall.

Having visited France in the 1920s, and made friends with Raoul Dufy, he showed his work alongside many of the French moderns highly regarded today (Utrillo, Chagall, Braque, Courbet, and others). Always living frugally, patrons in both Cornwall and London enabled his artistic career to continue. Eventually he returned to Canada with his family. He achieved good reviews in London and Europe in the 1960s.