Maleas was born and grew up in
Constantinople, far away from the Greek artistic centre in
Athens. The young painter avoided therefore the influence of the
Munich School that dominated Athenian Art. He studied at the
Phanar Greek Orthodox College and then left for
Paris in 1901 at an age of 23 years to study initially
architecture. In
Paris he eventually decided to study
painting until 1908 with
Henri Martin.
Western Europe,
Palestine and
Egypt where he drew some of the subjects for his famous landscapes. Apart from painting, he was also involved in public discussion of the modernisation of the Greek language. He was a friend of
Glenos,
Delmouzos and
Triantafylidis. He illustrated the first alphabet book in the new modern Greek language
Demotiki (Αλφαβητάρι με τον ήλιο), and wrote articles for newspapers such as
Nouma, Elefthero Vima, as well as writing for a number of art journals. Maleas was recognised for his artistic contribution by the
Greek Government, which awarded him its 'Highest Acknowledgement of Letters and Arts'. == Work ==