2004
Born Peter Max Finkelstein in Berlin in 1937, psychedelic Pop art icon Peter Max spent the first part of his childhood in Shanghai after his parents emigrated from Germany to flee the Nazis. While there, Max developed his deep interest in American pop culture — namely comic books, jazz and cinema. Max’s paintings, graphic design, prints and illustrations, which were inspired by these interests, were also informed by his experience with synesthesia, a sensory condition that causes him to see music and hear color.
After relocating to Haifa, Israel, then Paris, where he spent a significant amount of time in sketching classes at the Louvre, a teenage Max and his family finally moved to the United States, settling in Brooklyn. Max enrolled in the Art Students League of New York in 1956, training under Frank J. Reilly, and then the School of Visual Arts. Throughout art school, Max focused on photorealism, but he found the style too restrictive. When he graduated and opened his graphic design studio with friends in 1962, he began experimenting with abstraction and color — just in time for the psychedelic era.
The technicolor works for which Max would become known are characterized by big and bold graphic qualities — not dissimilar to what you’d find in his beloved comic books. Some deeper themes emerged across his work too: Max spent a good portion of the 1960s and 1970s creating his signature cosmic style, inspired by his fascination with astronomy and Eastern philosophies.
For Max and his partners, the graphic design business was highly successful, with commissions rolling in from advertising agencies, magazines and even Hollywood in the form of movie posters. The artist was featured on the cover of Life in 1969, and by the 1970s, he was practically a household name.
Max's body of work extended into product design, including a line of clocks for General Electric, while his domination of the commercial art scene continued for decades. He was commissioned to paint a postage stamp honoring the World’s Fair of 1974 (Expo ‘74); a Statue of Liberty series in which some proceeds went on to fund the statue’s restoration; posters and other advertising materials for major events like the Super Bowl, the U.S. Open and the Grammys; a Dale Earnhardt race car; and even the hull of the Norwegian Breakaway cruise ship.
Commercial activities aside, Max has long been the subject of many museum exhibitions, from his first solo show in 1970, “The World of Peter Max,” at the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco to 2016's “Peter Max: 50 Years of Cosmic Dreaming” at the Tampa Museum of Art in Florida. Today, his work belongs to the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and other institutions.
Find original Peter Max lithographs, paintings, signed art and other works for sale on 1stDibs.
Profile Series I, Peter Max
By Peter Max
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Peter Max (1937) Title: Profile Series I Year: 1998 Edition: 140/300, plus proofs Medium: Lithograph on Coventry Smooth paper Size: 9 x 7.5 inches Condition: Excellent Inscri...
Lithograph
Profile Series IV, Peter Max
By Peter Max
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Peter Max (1937) Title: Profile Series IV Year: 1998 Edition: 300/300, plus proofs Medium: Lithograph on Coventry Smooth paper Size: 9 x 7.5 inches Condition: Excellent Inscr...
Lithograph
Profile Series II, Peter Max
By Peter Max
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Peter Max (1937) Title: Profile Series II Year: 1998 Edition: 83/300, plus proofs Medium: Lithograph on Coventry Smooth paper Size: 8.5 x 7 inches Condition: Excellent Inscri...
Lithograph
Cosmic Profile, Peter Max
By Peter Max
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Peter Max (1937) Title: Cosmic Profile Year: 2003 Edition: 451/500, plus proofs Medium: Lithograph on Lustro Saxony paper Size: 3.5 x 3 inches Condition: Excellent Inscriptio...
Lithograph
Lady Profile, Peter Max
By Peter Max
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Peter Max (1937) Title: Lady Profile Year: 1998 Medium: Lithograph and acrylic on Coventry Smooth paper Size: 8.5 x 6.5 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed and by...
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Lithograph
The Profile, Peter Max
By Peter Max
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Peter Max (1937) Title: The Profile Year: 2003 Edition: 500/500, plus proofs Medium: Lithograph on Arches paper Size: 11.5 x 9.75 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Sig...
Lithograph
Reflections II, Pop Art Lithograph by Peter Max
By Peter Max
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Peter Max, German/American (1937 - ) Title: Reflections II Year: 1979 Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 165 Size: 19 in. x 24 in. (48.26 cm x 60.96 cm)
Lithograph
Profile, Pop Art Etching by Peter Max
By Peter Max
Located in Long Island City, NY
Peter Max, German/American (1937 - ) - Profile, Year: 1990, Medium: Etching, signed in crayon and numbered in pencil, Edition: 39/41, Image Size: 11 x 9 inches, Size: 22.5 in. x...
Etching
Sage and Profile
By Peter Max
Located in BRUCE, ACT
Peter Max Sage and Profile, 2005 Medium: Original lithograph with acrylic on paper Edition: Unique Sheet Size: 11" x 8 1/2" Float mounted on the premium board Signature: Hand signed ...
Mixed Media
Zero's Friend, Pop Art Lithograph by Peter Max
By Peter Max
Located in Long Island City, NY
Peter Max, German/American (1937 - ) - Zero's Friend, Year: 1980, Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 165, HC, Image Size: 22.5 x 19 inches, Size: 27 in....
Lithograph
Zero Horizontal (Zero I)
By Peter Max
Located in Missouri, MO
Peter Max "Zero Horizontal" (Zero I) 1973 Color Lithograph Ed. 194/300 Signed and Numbered Framed Size: approx. 32 x 25 inches Print Size: approx 20 x 26 inches Peter Max is a multi-dimensional artist focused on contemporary events. When he left art school in the 1960s he began producing, "cosmic imagery . . . that caught on right away, and before you knew it, I got an eight-page cover story in Life magazine." He explores all media, including mass media as a "canvas" for his creative expression. His decorative designs are on a Boeing 777 Continental, Dale Earnhardt's #3 Millennium race car, U.S. postage stamps and 235 U.S. border murals. He created two 155-foot murals for the U.S. Pavilion at the Seville World's Fair in Spain, 12 postage stamps for the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and a 600-foot stage mural for Woodstock 2. He has also painted for five U.S. presidents, as well as the Beatles, Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones. After September 11th, 2001 Peter Max began a project by finishing 356 portraits of the firefighters that were lost in the attack. His portraits were then given to the victims' families. In addition, from a special request from President George W. Bush, he recently created another 356 portraits for a firefighters' memorial. Peter Max has worked with oils, acrylics, water colors, finger paints, dyes, pastels, charcoal, pen, multi-colored pencils, etchings, engravings, animation cells...
Lithograph
Talking to Karen
By Peter Max
Located in Buffalo, NY
A very rare serigraph by Peter Max, created in 1979 called "Talking to Karen". This is one of Max's most collectible periods and works.
Lithograph, Paper, Screen
