Martin Bradley (1931 – 2024) was an autodidact, born in Richmond, Surrey, England. At the age of ourteen he shipped as ordinary seaman on the South America route. In the years at sea he started drawing and painting.

Five years later he returned to London. Martin Bradley´s principal interest was now painting and in 1954 this led up to a one-man-show in Gimpel Fils Gallery in London. In 1958 he went to Paris where he met Rudolphe Augustinci, who ran Galerie Rive Gauche where among others Max Ernst, Tanguy and Magritte exhibited. Other artists launched at this gallery were Dubuffet, Asger Jorn and Corneille.

In 1960 Martin Bradley had a one-man-show at Galerie Rive Gauche and his career seemed to be granted. Martin Bradley left Paris in 1962 to travel around the world for ten years. In Japan he met his wife Tatsuko and they settled down in Italy to start with. Later on they moved to Japan where he lived and worked until his passing in 2024.

Martin Bradley found his own way of expression in his colourful, imaginative painting. The thoughts go to Miró, COBRA and Paul Klee which he didn’t deny, though he is mainly influenced and inspired by prehistoric rock carvings or paintings, as well as by Chinese and Japanese calligraphy. Throughout the years the list of Martin Bradley´s exhibitions has become very comprehensive. He is represented at a lot of museums, among others at the MOMA in New York.