Maleas was born and grew up in Constantinople, far away from the Greek artistic center in Athens. The young painter therefore avoided 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 old to study initially architecture. In Paris he eventually decided to study painting until 1908 near Henri Martin.

In 1913 he returned to Greece, initially in Thessaloniki and then based in Athens. In 1917 he became a member of an avant-guard art group that imported the international contemporary art movements to Greece. He traveled extensively in Greece, Western Europe, Palestine and Egypt where he drew som...