The painter Konstantinos Maleas was born in Constantinople in 1879 and passed away in Athens in 1928.
He graduated from the Phanar Greek Orthodox College (Megali tou Genous Scholi). He initially studied architecture at the Constantinople Polytechnic. From 1901 to 1908, he lived in Paris and studied at the École des Arts Décoratifs and at the studio of H. Martin, who influenced his Neo-Impressionist and Symbolist vocabulary.
His numerous travels in Greece, Europe, and Middle Eastern countries constituted a significant milestone in both his painterly and personal journey.
A pivotal moment was his participation in the founding of the ‘Techni’ (Art) group, which opposed official, academic art.
Landscape painting dominates his subject matter, drawing primarily from the influences of Neo-Impressionism and Fauvism (Van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse), characterized by intense colors and flatness in depiction.
He presented his work in thirteen solo exhibitions as well as in group exhibitions (‘Techni’ group 1917, 1919; Salon d’Automne 1920, etc.). Retrospective exhibitions of his work took place at the Zappeion in 1929 and at the National Gallery in 1980.