Peter Max Bowl
1990s Pop Art Portrait Prints
Lithograph, Offset
1990s Pop Art Portrait Prints
Lithograph, Offset
People Also Browsed
2010s Pop Art Figurative Prints
Archival Paper
1940s American Realist Portrait Prints
Offset
20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Posters
Paper
Late 20th Century Impressionist Figurative Prints
Screen
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Landscape Paintings
Linen, Oil
1980s Op Art Abstract Prints
Paper, Screen
1970s Abstract Abstract Prints
Monotype
1970s American Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1940s American Realist Figurative Prints
Offset
1970s American Impressionist Portrait Prints
Lithograph, Paper
Vintage 1940s American Classical Sports Equipment and Memorabilia
Leather
1990s American Modern Black and White Photography
Vellum, Silver Gelatin
1990s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings
Acrylic, Linen
Late 20th Century American Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1990s Surrealist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1970s Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
Recent Sales
Mid-20th Century Decorative Bowls
Glass
1990s Prints and Multiples
Offset
1980s Abstract Impressionist Nude Prints
Lithograph
1970s Modern Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1990s Pop Art Figurative Prints
Color Pencil, Lithograph
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Prints
Wood, Paper
1990s Pop Art Portrait Prints
Lithograph, Offset
1990s Pop Art Portrait Prints
Lithograph, Offset
1990s Pop Art Figurative Prints
Offset
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Abstract Prints
Acrylic, Lithograph
1970s Modern Figurative Prints
Lithograph
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Impressionist Still-life Prints
Acrylic, Lithograph
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass, Aluminum
Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
20th Century American Prints
Peter Max for sale on 1stDibs
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.
- 1stDibs ExpertFebruary 22, 2021How much a Peter Max painting is worth will be determined by its condition, the presence of a signature, size and other factors. 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 a deep interest in American pop culture — namely comic books, jazz and cinema — that would inform his bold and graphic paintings. His prints can be found for less than approximately $1,000 but his paintings have sold for between $10,000 and $20,000 over the years. Find original Peter Max paintings on 1stDibs.