[2] In 1920, Thoms studied under Fritz Burger-Mühlfeld at the School of Arts and Crafts in Hanover.
Like the other New Objectivity artists active in Hanover, Thoms worked in a style that was unsentimental but "often reveals moods of a lyrical and fairy-tale-like nature", according to Sergiusz Michalski.
[3] In Attic (1926), Thoms presents prosaic subject matter in an undramatic way that nevertheless, with its openings into glimpsed spaces, suggests a mystery.
[4] Among the Hanover New Objectivity artists, Thoms was the only one who received any support from the Kestner-Society, which gave him a solo exhibition in 1926.
In 1943, Allied bombing destroyed his house and studio, causing a loss of many of his works.