His father, Christodoulos Kanthos was a teacher and award-winning painter, his mother Eugenia Aravi was a farmer.
Some of his works were inspired and painted on the spot in the different countries that he traveled to, however the majority depict Cyprus, it's people, it's nature and his birthplace.
Some of his most evocative work followed the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, where he recorded some of the suffering of the displaced persons and particularly those who had lost loved ones.
From the summer of 1936, on the recommendation of the School, he worked, simultaneously with his studies, in the Aspiotis-ELKA graphic arts workshop in Corfu and Athens until the end of 1938.
Kanthos pioneered every new movement of Cypriot artistic life and in 1964 he founded, alongside others, the Chamber of Fine Arts EKATE.
He developed great cultural activity and was often a member of artistic committees of the Ministry of Education and other public bodies.
Apart from his attempt to convey the tonalities of light, he did not ignore the essential features of the Cypriot area, which he projected through the discreet simplification, stylization and removal of complementary and anecdotal themes.
For the rendering of summer landscapes, particularly characteristic is the use of a series of ochres that he made himself by mixing Cypriot ombres.
Apart from landscapes, he also created works with scenes from the daily life of the village and the city, as well as compositions referring to the tragedy of Cyprus after the Turkish invasion in 1974.
His engraving is divided into that which created the first years after his return to Cyprus and then sporadically until 1973 and the one he carved after the Turkish invasion of 1974.
They are strictly structured, poetic and peaceful compositions, balanced through the contrasts of black and white, full and empty surfaces.
He also took part in group exhibitions (Agency for Intellectual Cooperation, Athens, 1962; Dasi gallery, Nicosia, 1962; Pancyprian 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1971; Cairo, 1965; Boston, 1967; Panhellenic 1971, 1975; National Gallery, Athens, 1975; Belgrade, 1977; Sofia, 1979; Dimitria, Thessaloniki, 1979; Bucharest, Prague, Budapest, Sofia, 1981-1982; Alexandria Biennale, 1984; The Tree, Municipal Arts Centre, Nicosia, 1993, etc.).