31 Peter Max Facts: A Creative, Bright And Amazing Artist!

Peter Max Finkelstein is a German-American artist associated particularly with vibrant psychedelic art and pop art.

He was born on October 19, 1937, and became a popular name in the field of Arts for his bright colorful Art style. In the '60s he began working as a designer for many high-profile brands and campaigns.

It was in 1965 when his cover photo for the LIFE Magazine got very famous. He draws inspiration from the Fauvism Movement that made use of bold and contrasting colors.

Some of Max’s iconic paintings include that of former presidents and very powerful people.

It is a cherry on the cake if you get to do something that you love, and Peter Max is one such fortunate and talented artist who says that he is wowed by the Universe and that he loves shapes, colors, and people whose influence he puts in his Art.

He uses dynamic colors that often feature incredibly fantastic scenes. He has a net worth of around $50 million.

He is a graphic artist and a visionary pop artist, who has practiced a lot of modern art, fine art, and many other things.

Max's style is a vivid style, Max spent most of his time perfecting it. He is an art director with a unique graphic style.

This is not all about him. He is influenced by a lot of things around him and influences a lot of people around him.

Read on to know more about the life of young Peter Max when his family moved across cities and helped him gain experiences that shaped his future life. Afterward, also check out Peter Cosgrove facts and Peter Diamandis facts.

Background Of Peter Max

Peter Max was born in Germany to parents Salla and Jakob, who were German Jews. Peter was just a year old when his family had to move out of Berlin to avoid persecution by Nazis happening in 1938.

They found their abode in a Buddhist monastery near Shanghai till the time he turned ten. He developed his love for colors and the “calligraphic ballet” that he got to witness daily at the Buddhist temple that was situated across the street from his family villa.

They had to keep moving to different places for different time periods depending upon the situation in the respective countries. They even spent considerable time in Paris.

France is popular worldwide for its art and culture. Fashion, Art everything is top-notch and it was there in France when this great artist evolved. He began showing an inclination towards art and so started taking formal lessons from Louvre Museum.

Max commenced his training in art formally in Manhattan. Here he got admission to the Art Students League of New York and studied several subjects under Frank Reilly such as composition and drawing.

He also studies at the School of Visual Arts in New York. His training began in the United States when his family had to move there.

After moving to the US, Max and his parents first settled in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, in 1953. Before beginning with his formal training in Arts, Max attended Lafayette High School and was classmates with future actor Paul Sorvino.

His first marriage was with Elizabeth Nance in the year 1863. The couple filed for divorce after 13-years of marriage in 1976. Thereafter he had a romance with the model and musician Rosie Vela for a duration of nine years. The relationship ended in 1985. He married Mary Balkin in the year 1997 but she soon committed suicide.

Max is an animal rights activist, a vegan, and an environmentalist. Max helped to save Cincinnati Freedom, a cow who had escaped from an Ohio slaughterhouse, in 2002.

Artists are gifted, they say in some way or the other they are differently-abled. And, so is Peter Max. He has synesthesia in which a person makes use of different senses quite variedly from other individuals.

He has an interest in astronomy and jazz as well. It reflects in his paintings. In fact, if Peter had a second choice he would have definitely been an astronomer.

Max practiced yoga for a long time and his mentor has been the famed yogi Swami Satchidananda, who also introduced him to a vegetarian diet.

The Career Of Peter Max

Peter Max built a successful career with his talent and phenomenal artworks decade after decade. Peter is a multi-dimensional artist who used bold and vibrant colors to make art reflect joy. A number of his paintings have decorated the walls of museums, galleries, magazine covers, and even favorite T-shirts of people.

From 1964 -1967, Peter worked extensively on collages and developed a technique that is popular even now. It is a unique technique used to make collages making use of antique photographs in kaleidoscopic patterns. In 1968, Max’s art gained huge popularity through national television when Coca-Cola and 7-Up advertisements featured his work.

Max frequently incorporates American symbols and motifs into his work.

In addition to his 100 Clintons, a multi-portrait work, he has painted presidents John F Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George W Bush Sr. Other projects include the first "Preserve the Environment" postage stamp, created in commemoration of the World's Fair in Spokane, Washington; border murals at entrance points into the United States from Canada and Mexico; and exhibitions in over 40 museums and 50 galleries across the world.

He has painted six liberty portraits which have an amazing graphic design.

Products of Peter Max were displayed in the exhibition held in San Francisco in 1970, at the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum.

Fortunately, during his time the print media industry was expanding that helped in making his works famous and known all over the country. Max was also asked to create postage stamps to commemorate the United States Postal Service for Expo 74 World’s Fair in Spokane.

As per the headlines in the Newyork Times, his posters became wallpapers for the turn-on, tune in, drop out generation.

On the topic of Preserve the Environment, the United States Postal Service commissioned Max to design a vivid postage stamp with a psychedelic scene with a Cosmic Jumper and a Smiling Sage against a backdrop of a cloud, sun rays, and a ship at sea to celebrate the Expo '74 World's Fair in Spokane, Washington.

His career has been so successful and he earned so much fame, that in 1993, he was one of those artists who was commissioned by NBC to create variations on their famous peacock logo.

Peter Max’s art still has influence over the fashion industry. In fact, an American Apparel recently started a product line, Neo Max, that features the artwork and designs of Peter Max.

His works added a number of feathers to his hat. He has been the official artist for many major Art events that include the 1994 World Cup, the Grammy awards, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Super Bowl, and many others.

Work Of Peter Max

His exceptional works make him the famous Peter Max and as mentioned earlier, his works are influenced by many things that influence him like astronomy, psychedelic movements. His artwork is associated with counter-culture, neo-expressionism, neo-fauvism, and psychedelic movements.

But his major works of all time have been what he did to save the Statue of Liberty when the statue was in need of restoration in the 1980s.

The renovated statue was finally revealed in 1986 after four years of continuous work on its restoration. To celebrate the restoration of the statue Max created 11 new Statue of Liberty paintings. The Statue of Liberty is world-famous and is a great tourist attraction. It is based on the Roman Goddess Libertas- a symbol of freedom and optimism.

His artwork makes extensive use of various famous American icons.

The famous Singer Taylor swift has been a fan of Max’s work since childhood and fr the impact she has on the industry and her fans, gladly Peter Max offered Taylor to paint her portrait based on her Fearless album cover that he presented to her backstage on a show.

Taylor was overwhelmed by this gesture of Max.

Peter Max has been the official artist for many events including the 1994 Soccer World Cup, Super Bowl, and Grammy Awards in 1995.

Personal Life Of Peter Max

The personal life of the great artist has been full of various ups and downs. Here are some important aspects related to the personal life of Peter Max:

Peter Max is a German-American painter, pop culture icon, and official artist who is recognized for his use of vibrant colors. Max is a realistic painter and a fashion designer. Max's work is related to the 1960s visual arts and culture, particularly psychedelic and pop art.

Max was born in Berlin, Germany, to Salla and Jakob, two German Jews. In 1938, they fled Berlin and settled in Shanghai, China, where they spent the following ten years.

He had his education and art classes at the Art Students League of New York City. The family moved to Haifa in 1948 and stayed there for several years.

Max and his family relocated to Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, in 1953, where he attended Lafayette High School, where he met future actor Paul Sorvino. In 1956, Max enrolled at the Art Students League of New York City in Manhattan, where he studied anatomy, figure drawing, and composition with Frank Reilly, who had previously studied at the League under Norman Rockwell.

In 2019, Max was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. He is a vegan, an environmentalist, and a strong supporter of animal rights as well as human rights.

He has contributed to rescuing a number of abandoned animals and has performed charity by donating his art worth thousands and lakhs of dollars to benefit the local society working for the welfare of animals.

In 2002, Peter contributed to rescuing a cow that escaped from an Ohio slaughterhouse. His second wife Mary was also an advocate of animal rights and both Max and Mary were awarded for their dedication to animal rights with the Preserve Putnam Award.

Peter liked to have a collection of vintage cars that languished inside a New York parking lot. In 1989, there happened a contest was held by VH1, in which the network donated several vintage cars to the winner named Dennis Amadeo who was a carpenter.

He sold them to Peter Max who desired to paint patterns on them and wanted to showcase the painted cars at an exhibition. But he never completed the huge project and in the end, sold off the vintage car collection.

He had faced court trials for concealment of property and tax frauds. In 1997, he pleaded guilty in the federal court of Manhattan when $1.1 million were found to be concealed by him from the Internal Revenue Service.

He simultaneously had to go on trial on an 11-count conspiracy and tax fraud in which he again pleaded guilty and was charged with conspiracy to defraud the IRS and a charge of tax evasion.

He was sentenced to prison for two months and a fine too was imposed on him, he also had to perform community service to compensate for tax evasion and an attempt to defraud IRS.

In 2019, an article was published by The New York Times stating the facts about Peter’s current health state that is deteriorating and that he is suffering from advanced dementia.

Peter Max was honored by The Black Alumni of Pratt with the prestigious Pinnacle Alumni in Art and Design Award in 2010 for his contributions to the art world and for his considerable humanitarian work.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Peter Max facts then why not take a look at Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky facts, or Peter Max facts.