The pursuits of Greek artists in the inter-war period were associated with the emergence of modern trends in western European art and were defined by social and economic details, as well as the political realities of the country. Thus new directions emerged in combination with a fresh attempt at self-definition, a quest for Greek identity.

Many of the artists of this period had studied abroad, mainly in Paris. Painters such as Konstantinos Parthenis, Theophrastos Triantafyllidis and Konstantinos Maleas introduced innovative trends beginning with the Impressionist and post-Impressionist movements, while Spyros Papaloukas moved in the same direction and finally discovered Byzantine art. But the synthesis of the Byzantine tradition with modern Greek painting occurred with Photis Kontoglou and influenced his disciples, the surrealist Nikos Engonopoulos and Yannis Tsarouchis, each of whom developed a personal idiom. A different artistic idiom, comprising the concepts of Cubism, was introduced by Nikos Chatzikyriakos-Ghikas, while similar influences can be traced in Kostas Plakotaris and Gerasimos Steris. The most important representative of Expressionism in Greece is Yorgos Bouzianis who experienced the post-war developments in Germany and endeavoured to convey man's existential agony. Next to him, from the point of view of influence, we find Mimis Vitsoris and Yannis Mitarakis, while Yorgos Gounaropoulos, with his symbolic dreamy landscapes, is difficult to class in any school. To this period belongs the work of Diamantis Diamantopoulos while simultaneouslyYannis Moralis is beginning his artistic career.