Peter Max - GrumannsArt - homeMax.pdfPeter Max's childhood began when he and his parents fled Nazi Germany, (Berlin, Germany) in 1938 to escape the Holocaust and traveled to Shanghai,

Peter Max German-born American Pop Artist, born in 1937

Peter Max (born Peter Max Finkelstein, October 19, 1937) is a German-born Jewish American artist best known for his “Cosmic 60s”

art style, as it came to be known in the 1960s.

At first, works in this style appeared on posters and were seen on the walls of college dorms all across America.

Max then became fascinated with new printing techniques that allowed for four-color reproduction on product merchandise.

Following his success with a line of art clocks for General Electric, Max’s art was licensed by 72 corporations and he had become a

household name. 7-Up commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8-eLMuCdfI

In September 1969 Max appeared on the cover of Life Magazine with an eight-page feature article as well as the Tonight Show with Johnny

Carson and the Ed Sullivan Show.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Max

Peter Max's childhood began when he and his parents fled Nazi Germany, (Berlin, Germany) in 1938 to escape the Holocaust and traveled to Shanghai, China, where they

lived for the next ten years.

They lived in a pagoda-style house that overlooked a Buddhist temple, where Peter would observe monks

painting calligraphic images with large bamboo brushes on large sheets of rice paper.

His Chinese nanny taught Peter how to hold and paint with a brush by using the movement of his wrist and his mother

(who was a fashion designer in Berlin before the family moved to Shanghai) encouraged him to develop his art

skills by leaving a variety of art supplies on the balconies of the pagoda and told him to “go ahead and make a mess;

we’ll clean it all up after you.”

From American comic books, radio broadcasts and cinema shows, young Peter formed an

impression of the land of Captain Marvel and Flash Gordon; of swing jazz and swashbucklers;

of freedom and creativity.

http://www.aejv.com/max-bio.htm

Artist Peter Max - Color and Creativity! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=punS9XAjM

J8

He works in multiple media, including oil, acrylics, water colors, finger-paints, dyes, pastels, charcoal, pen, multi-colored pencils, etchings,

engravings, animation cells, lithographs, serigraphs, ceramics, sculpture, collage, video, Xerox, fax, and computer graphics. He also includes mass

media as a "canvas" for his creative expression.[1]

“Untitled”, 1972, Serigraph

“Without Borders”, Acrylic on Canvas

“Liberty and Justice for All”,

2001, Acrylic on Canvas

Max often uses American symbols in his artwork and has done paintings and projects for presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, Bush and Obama.

Peter Max Obama painting unveiled. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRPFYfuzJHA

His art has flown the skies on a Continental Airlines 777 Super Jet. His installations include

a 600-ft. stage for the Woodstock Music Festival, a giant mural for the Winter Olympics

and 10-ft. guitars for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Max’s art was so much in synch with the times that it was licensed by 72 corporations, from

General Electric clocks to Burlington Mills socks. Within a three year period, the line of products

had generated more than $1 billion in retail sales.

July 4, 1976, Max began his Statue of Liberty series leading to his efforts with Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca to help spearhead the restoration of the statue.

Max has painted Lady Liberty

annually since America’s Bicentennial. A collage of his Liberties adorned 145 million

Verizon phone books.

In the 1970s, Max gave up his commercial success and went into retreat to begin painting in earnest. He submersed himself in his art for several years, and was only induced to come out of retreat on occasion through special commissions by the Federal government agencies; for U.S. Border murals, the first 10¢ U.S. postage stamp, and projects for the Federal Energy Commission.

http://www.aejv.com/max-bio.htm

He developed a more painterly style, noted for spontaneous, expressionistic brushstrokes.

February 2006, Scholastic Art

Peter Max has been commissioned by many famous people to paint their portrait or design album/cd covers. He is still one of the most sought after artists in America.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keXe-VPVNb8

Prince Charles, Time Magazine 1969

Paul McCartney, Time 1976

Mick Jagger

The image below is an in progress example of a work based on the style of Peter Max.

Most information in the above PowerPoint was gleaned from: http://www.aejv.com/max-bio.htm February 2006, Scholastic Art http://www.petermax.com/ PowerPoint created for educational purposes by: Sue Grumann 2011