El Greco's dramatic and expressionist style puzzled other painters at the time, but came to be appreciated in the 20th century. El Greco is considered to have influenced both the Expressionist and Cubist styles. His personality and works inspired poets and writers like Rainer Maria Rilke and Nikos Kazantzakis. Many modern scholars think that El Greco belongs to no conventional school. He is best known for long figures and often fantastic or dramatic coloring, combining Byzantine traditions with Western painting traditions. His paintings generally have very bright parts contrasting with very dark parts.