Peter Max, the German-born pop artist whose cosmic colours and psychedelic iconography came to define 1960s counterculture before building a multi-million-dollar commercial enterprise, has died Monday in Manhattan following a long illness.
According to ynetnews.com, he was 88.
Born Peter Max Finkelstein in Berlin on October 19, 1937, Max lived in China and Israel before settling in New York, where his transition from realist training to surreal pop aesthetics mirrored an era defined by time, space and anti-establishment expression.
Max achieved ubiquity during the 1960s with posters and paintings featuring starbursts, floating peace signs, butterflies and surreal cosmic scenes. His celebrity portraits captured musical icons including the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Mick Jagger, drawing praise from contemporaries and political figures alike, including US presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.
Embracing commercial scale, Max licensed his artwork across roughly 70 product lines, ranging from commuter aircraft and cruise ships to bedsheets and chessboards, dismissing criticism that commercial reach undermined artistic purity.
He later served as official artist for five Super Bowls, the 1994 World Cup, the 2000 Kentucky Derby and the 2006 US Winter Olympics team, generating annual studio revenues estimated at $80 million to $100 million by the 2000s.
His career also intersected with legal and health controversies. In 1997, Max pleaded guilty to tax evasion involving concealed art sales, receiving a sentence of two months in a halfway house and community service. By 2019, reports indicated he had advanced dementia and Alzheimer’s-related symptoms, having ceased serious painting years prior.
Max is survived by his children, Libra and Adam. He is remembered by family for his gentleness and dedication to spreading joy through visual culture.
•Featured image: Peter Max/Reuters