Peter MaxSuzin1981
1981
About the Item
- Creator:Peter Max (1937, American, German)
- Creation Year:1981
- Dimensions:Height: 29 in (73.66 cm)Width: 21 in (53.34 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU10628057172
Peter Max
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 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 an explosively vibrant collection of Peter Max paintings, prints and other works on 1stDibs.
- Bag of TricksBy Fahamu PecouLocated in Saint Louis, MOFahamu Pecou Bag of Tricks, 2015 Lithograph 28 x 22 inches (71.1 x 55.9 cm) Edition 113/150Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph, Archival Paper
- David Beckham Portrait, hand printed lithographBy Espoir KennedyLocated in Miami Beach, FLDavid Beckham Portrait by Espoir Kennedy Hand printed lithograph Image Size: 14 H x 11 W inches Paper Size: 19.5 H x 15 W inches Frame Size: 22.75 H x 1...Category
2010s Contemporary Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph, Archival Paper
- Faces, Black and White - Figurative PortraitLocated in Austin, TXThis black and white original lithograph by Mexican artist Juan Carlos Breceda depicts a checkerboard of abstracted woman's face from a variety of ...Category
20th Century Figurative Prints
MaterialsArchival Paper, Lithograph
- Fruit Tree (Japanese-American, Sculptor, Print Maker, Cultural Identity, Iconic)By Akio TakamoriLocated in Kansas City, MOAkio Takamori Fruit Tree, 1993 Medium: 4 Color Lithograph Edition: 30 Paper: Rives BFK, White Paper Size: 33.5″ x 15″ Image Size: 29.5″ x 11″ Signed, dated, numbered and inscribed by...Category
1990s American Modern Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph, Archival Paper
- The Puppet Man, 1960. E. ABy Alexander CalderLocated in Miami Beach, FL"The Puppet Man, 1960. By Alexander Calder. Handwriting by artist "EA" down left. Image size: 42.25 x 19 in. Frame size: 50.25 x 27 in. Silver Frame Ha...Category
1660s Abstract Geometric Portrait Prints
MaterialsArchival Paper, Lithograph
- Taurus, 2018, print, figurative, gold, tarot, zodiac sign, horoscope, cosmic artBy Deming King HarrimanLocated in Jersey City, NJTaurus, 2018, print, figurative, gold, tarot, horoscope, zodiac sign, metallic gold edge, on glossy heavy card stock with pink design on reverse. Custom framing available upon reque...Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Prints
MaterialsArchival Paper, Archival Pigment, Digital, Archival Ink
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
An Inspiring Collage by Self-Taught Miami Artist Purvis Young
In 1995, the artist embellished a found poster of Martin Luther King with visionary markings.
M.C. Escher’s Infinitely Intriguing Art Gets the Hollywood Treatment
A new film goes deep into the artist's life and mind-bending creations, revealing why his ideas are still relevant to this day.