Peter Max, the artist whose colorful psychedelic pop art expressed the optimism of the “flower power” movement of the 1960s and graced everything from postage stamps to a cruise ship, has died at 88.
Max died on Monday, his son Adam Max said in a written statement on Wednesday. No cause was given.
“We will remember his extraordinary creativity, his warmth, his curiosity, and the way he saw beauty and possibility everywhere,” Adam Max wrote. “His art became part of American culture, but the man behind that art – the father we knew and loved – is the person we will miss most.”
Born Peter Max Finkelstein in Berlin in 1937 to a Jewish family, he fled Nazi Germany for Shanghai as a baby and spent time in Tibet, Israel and Paris before settling in New York City at 16. He began his career in graphic design in the 1960s, and his prolific output and accessible style soon made him a fixture of dorm-room posters, clocks, bedspreads and even covers for the Manhattan Yellow Pages. His swirly designs in vivid colors such as turquoise, orange and neon green seemed to be everywhere. Life magazine featured him on its cover in 1969.
His commercial reach became enormous. Max was official artist for the Olympics, the Super Bowl, the Indianapolis 500, the World Cup and the World Series, and his work appeared on a Boeing 777 and a Norwegian Cruise Line ship. His portrait subjects ranged from US presidents to Taylor Swift.
“My work was really, I would say, almost exploited,” Max once said, describing 70 product lines carrying his designs. He shut the business down for a time in the early 1970s to reconnect with his art. One of his biggest projects after returning was a series of Statue of Liberty portraits, painted at the White House at the invitation of first lady Nancy Reagan in 1981.
Max’s later life carried controversy. He pleaded guilty to tax fraud in 1997 after the IRS alleged he concealed more than $1m in income. He was originally sentenced to two months in prison but was allowed to serve the time in a work-release program, pay a $30,000 fine and perform 800 hours of community service teaching art in Harlem schools. In 2015 his family life became tabloid material in a dispute between his second wife, Mary, and Adam; Mary Max died in 2019.
He held a deep interest in Eastern spirituality, bringing Satchidananda Saraswati to the United States and helping him popularize yoga in the country. His first marriage, to Elizabeth Nance, ended in divorce. Max is survived by Adam and his daughter, Libra.