From 1935 Ten Hoope followed various courses in Amsterdam, including at the later Gerrit Rietveld Academy. He was a fellow student of Karel Appel and the two painters portrayed each other back and forth. He worked mainly in the Gooi, in his birthplace, and for decades in France (Pont-en-Royans). He mainly painted (nude) portraits, figures and landscapes. In 1956 he received the Prix du Carrefour and later the Prix Arts et Lettres.

He was a member of the Professional Association of Visual Artists (BBK), the Association of Visual Artists Laren-Blaricum, Artists' Association De Independents and Le Carrefour. He exhibited for the first time in 1949, in Hotel Hamdorff, and later also in the Singer Museum in Laren; in the latter museum, a commemoration meeting was held after his death on January 27, 2014. In 2010 he was awarded the Jan Hamdorffprijs, a biennial oeuvre prize of the municipality of Laren, and was then also a knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau. A circle of friends exists in the form of the Bob ten Hoop Foundation.