Anthony T. Claps was born in Buffalo, New York on March 15, 1894. He studied at the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, and the Albright Art School. He was a craftsman, working in the field of leather tooling and design, at the Roycroft Community in East Aurora, New York.

After his service in the U.S. Marine Corps, he attended the Minneapolis School of Art, and was employed as a leather craftsman at Brown & Bigelow in Minneapolis. He continued his studies at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, and the Austin, Oak Park, River Forest Art League, now known as the Oak Park Art League (OPAL), where he was a member, a teacher, and a board member for many years. He also studied with Hans Hofmann in New York.

Tony's oil paintings won many awards and were shown throughout the Chicago area in numerous venues, including the Oak Park Art League, the Oak Park Arms Hotel, Monte’s Restaurant, Riccardo's Restaurant Gallery, and the All Illinois Society of Fine Arts at the Conrad Hilton Hotel.

Tony and his wife, Edith, raised five children and lived in Chicago, Illinois until his death in 1964.