In 1620 in Angoulême, then in 1622 in Bordeaux, parish of Saint-Éloi, Cureau apprenticed with the painter Jos(eph) Roy.
On Roy's death he became a painter at the Hôtel de Ville of Bordeaux, one of whose duties was to paint portraits of jurats and mayors.
In 1625 he demanded payment for the portraits of Lacroix, Marot (or Maron), Vignoles, de Chimbaud, Dupin de Tortaty, Constant, Fouques and Bordenabe.
[1][2][a] The portraits of jurats and mayors were given to their families after the death or the termination of the magistrate's function.
There remains in the possession of the Town Hall today, after the revolutionary auctions and the burning of the Town Hall, only one portrait: that of Mullet, Lord of La Tour.