Koula Bekiari was initially taught art by her mother Anna Bekiari, and later by Theofrastos Triantafyllides. She painted landscapes, still lifes and portraiture.

Her work sets human interaction in a mystic context, transforming realism into poetry. She conveys the expressionist need to submerge the human subject into a private, metaphysical and isolated world.

Being a student of Theofrastos Triantafyllidis, Koula Bekiari was highly respected by her peers and served on the board of critics for the 1957 Panhellenic Exhibition.

Reviewing the artist’s oeuvre in his book Koula Bekiari, Professor Stelios Lydakis comments on The advice: ‘In Advice the mother’s image is absorbed by a misty atmosphere as if she no longer belongs to this world but to a hazy and ungraspable realm. Beside her, wrapped in her thoughts, her daughter is rendered against veils of dark colours which seem to reflect her own sombre feelings. This exquisite work, full of truth and anguish, is a ‘psychogram’ of strange magic that embodies all the stylistic achievements of the past’.

Bekiari held a number of solo exhibitions in Greece. She also participated in a number of prestigious group exhibitions such as: The 1934 Venice Biennale, The 1938, 1939, 1940, 1948, 1952, 1957, 1960, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971 & 1973 Panhellenic Exhibition, The 1961 Sao Paolo Biennale, The 1963 Alexandria Biennale, The 1964 Salon International de l’Art Libre, Paris (where she was awarded the silver medal), and The 1969 Montecatini Biennale.

Her work is found in many public and private collections, notably: The National Gallery, Athens, The Athens Municipal Gallery, The Rhodes Municipal gallery and The National Bank of Greece.