in the 1920s, greve became known as the "gray eminence" of mecklenburg painters. in addition to his participation in numerous exhibitions, he was in charge of the when it returned to berlin after world war i. he also worked as an illustrator for books of heroic german sagas and folk tales of mecklenburg. a notable example is "gretenwäschen. preisgekrönte erzählungen aus dem mecklenburgischen volksleben.", edited by karl beyer, from 1919.