Peter Max

Peter Max
File:Peter Max 1988.jpg Peter Max - 1988
Born	(1937-10-19) October 19, 1937 Berlin, Germany
Nationality	American (United States)
Education	Art Students League of New York
Known for	Painting, Pop Art
Notable work	LOVE (1968)
Movement	Pop Art

Peter Max (born Peter Max Finkelstein, October 19, 1937) is a German-born Jewish American artist. 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. 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.

Biography

Childhood

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 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.”

In 1948, the family departed on a ship that took them on a 48 day sea journey around the continent of Africa and arrived at the port of Haifa, right after Israel had attained its statehood. They lived in Haifa for two years, and while Peter attended grade school, he simultaneously developed an interest in art and astronomy. His parents supported his interests by sending him to private art classes with a Viennese expressionist painter, Professor Honick, as well as weekly classes in astronomy at the Technion Institute on Mount Carmel.

From Israel, the family continued their journey westward and stopped in Paris for several months. That experience greatly enriched Peter’s appreciation of art; he sketched classic statuary in Parisian gardens, devoured the museums, and even took art classes at the Louvre. While he was impressed by the works of the European Expressionists and Fauvism, he was particularly fascinated with the paintings of William-Adolphe Bouguereau, who was a traditionalist, renowned for his photo-realist style. The influence of Bouguereau, and later, John Singer Sargent, were instrumental in motivating Peter to take up realism when he began his formal art studies at the Art Students League of New York.

The 1950s

Peter and his parents first settled in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn 1953 attending Lafayette High School (New York City). One of Peter’s friends and classmates was actor Paul Sorvino. In 1956, Max began his formal art training at the Art Students League of New York in Manhattan, studying anatomy, figure drawing and composition under Frank J. Reilly, whom he had considered a master of light and shadow. Reilly himself had studied at the League alongside of Norman Rockwell, under the tutelage of George Bridgman, who was considered to be one of the great anatomists of the 20th century and taught at the League for 45 years.

The 1960s

In 1962 Max started a small Manhattan arts studio with friend Tom Daly, The Daly & Max Studio. Daly and Max were joined by friend and mentor Don Rubbo, and the three worked as a group on books and advertising. In 1963, Daly, Max and Rubbo did the illustration, design and color for Helga Sandburg's (the daughter of poet Carl Sandburg) children's book Joel and the Wild Goose. Max was commissioned by Riverside Records to create cover art for Meade Lux Lewis. The album art won a gold medal from the Society of Illustrators in 1962. With the use of photographic images as elements of collage, Max organized the Bettman Panopticon exhibition utilizing the antique photo content of the Bettman archives. It was considered one of the most avant-garde exhibitions of the New York graphic arts scene. His interest in Astronomy led to his Cosmic 60s period by way of art posters. He appeared on the Tonight Show in 1968 and on the cover of LIFE magazine on 9-5-1969. Max's 1968 LOVE poster was emblematic of late 60s pop-culture iconography.

The 1970s

U.S. postage stamp, featuring artwork by Peter Max, that commemorated Expo '74.

In 1970, many of Max's products and posters were featured in the exhibition "The World of Peter Max" which opened at the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco. The US Postal Service commissioned Max to create the first 10¢ postage stamp to commemorate the Expo '74 World's Fair in Spokane, Washington. 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.

1976 also saw the commissioning of Peter Max Paints America by the ASEA of Sweden. The book project commemorated America's bicentennial and included the following foreword. "Peter Max Paints America is based on works of art commissioned by ASEA of Sweden on the 200th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America, in sincere recognition of the historic bonds of friendship between the people of Sweden and the people of the United States, recalling that Sweden was one of the first countries to extend its hand in friendship to the new nation."

The 1980s to present

Official artist for many major events including Grammy Awards, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, The Super Bowl and others.

He also hosted the Xpress Peter Max Coloring Contest in the St. Petersburg Times in November 2005. The contest, located in St. Petersburg, Florida, was a contest for children to color in a sketch by Max. Of 800 entries, 90 were sent to Max, who chose a grand prize winner, a runner-up and 10 honorable mentions in each of the three age categories: 5-8, 9-13 and 14-18. Grand prize winners and runners-up received a piece of original art by Max, presented to them at the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. Each honorable mention student received a signed Peter Max poster.

Work

One of Peter Max's art galleries, at The Forum Shops at Caesars

Continental Airline's "Peter Max", a Boeing 777-200ER, on the apron at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas.

Max's art work was a part of the psychedelic movement in graphic design. His work was much imitated in commercial illustration in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Although Max's style and the animation style of the Beatles film Yellow Submarine appear to closely resemble each other, Max was not part of the film's production. However, according to Yellow Submarine expert Bob Hieronimus, Max claims that prior to going into production, producer Al Brodax approached him to work on the film, and Max believes that his style influenced the film's artwork (as opposed to the claims of others that the opposite is in fact the case). Despite his lack of actual involvement in the film's creation, Max has often been introduced as its creator at personal appearances in the media.

He works in multiple media, including oil, acrylics, water colors, fingerpaints, dyes, pastels, charcoal, pen, multi-colored pencils, etchings, engravings, animation cels, lithographs, serigraphs, ceramics, sculpture, collage, video, xerox, fax, and computer graphics. He also includes mass media as a "canvas" for his creative expression.

Max often uses American symbols in his artwork and has done paintings and projects for presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush. Recently he created his 100 Clintons, a multiple portrait installation whose images were used through the four days of the Presidential inauguration. More recently, Max completed his fourth Grammy-Award poster, redesigned NBC television's symbolic peacock, was appointed as the official artist for the World Cup USA 1994 and created a "Peace Accord" painting for the White House to commemorate a historic signing.

One of Continental Airlines' Boeing 777-200ER aircraft (registered N77014) sported a special livery designed by Max. The livery was removed in the winter of 2007–2008.

His artwork is currently on the walls of CBS's The Early Show where his newly created installation of 44 Obamas, commemorating the 44th President of The United States, was debuted.

Personal life

Max owns a collection of 36 Chevrolet Corvettes, dating from 1953 to 1988, one for each year. The collection has been horribly neglected.

Peter Max is an environmentalist and defender of human and animal rights.

Peter Max was in the news in 2002 when he offered to provide a life of green fields for Cinci Freedom, a cow that escaped from an Ohio slaughterhouse. The cow leapt over a six-foot fence while the slaughterhouse workers were on break and eluded capture for eleven days. "This little girl's will—facing the end of her life, being so frightened, then taking the risk of all risks to live, to be free—touched me so deeply," Max was quoted as saying, "It was so inspiring. I knew I had to try to preserve that wonderful spirit." Max donated $20 worth of his art to benefit the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, to ensure her a long life of peace at Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, New York.

Peter Max currently lives in New York City with his wife, Mary Max.

References

• http://www.aejv.com/max-bio.htm
• http://www.artlover.org/more_art/artist_bios/max-bio.html
• 'It's Peter Max's Car, Man!'
• Imagine the artistry

External links

• PeterMax.com - The Official Peter Max Web Site with listings of Galleries and Exhibitions.
• Facebook.com - The Official Facebook fan page.
• Twitter.com The Official Peter Max Twitter page.
• MySpace.com - The Official Peter Max MySpace page.
• Peter Max on Artcyclopedia