Anton Martineau loves paint and poems; he pursues both passionately and successfully. The relationship between man and woman, love and death are major themes of his work. Martineau, proud to be a self-taught painter, grew up in an environment in which nothing was taken for granted and he had to fight for everything.
He belongs to the same generation as Karel Appel; he frequented the same places, but artistically he has no affinity with CoBrA artists. This is the case even though his first exhibition in 1948 was with Lucebert (a CoBrA member) and his earlier works (due to his expressionistic nature) resemble the work of CoBrA artists.
Like many artists of his generation, he wandered through Europe and settled down in Paris for a while. Since 1970 Martineau has exhibited successfully in both galleries and museums in the Netherlands. At present he is a prominent and respected Dutch contemporary artist.