Armand Bouten lived in the Pijp area of Amsterdam. He established himself as a skillful drawer and painter. In 1920, Bouten made a tour of eastern Europe, where he produced watercolours and gouaches of gypsies and peasant fairs. These works on paper were easy to take along on his travels around Europe.

Bouten's period of expressionism in the years 1917 to 1919 - monumental shapes and sparkling / glowing colors - changed to a scope for futuristic elements and a more lively pallet after his travels. The themes and subjects that he depicted also changed after his return to Amsterdam, when he began to concentrate on nightlife scenes. His work has many similarities to that of the German artist Georg Grosz (1893-1959), though Bouten's approach is different in that he never intended to pass judgement on his subjects.