Peter Max, the artist best known for his colorful, psychedelic paintings that became synonymous with the flower power movement in the 1960s, has died. He was 88.
Max, who was living with dementia for at least a decade, died in a hospital on Sept. 14, his son Adam Max told The New York Times and The Associated Press on Sept. 16. A cause of death was not provided.
Peter Max was a prolific and commercially successful artist whose work appeared on an airplane, a cruise ship, postage stamps, and promotional materials for the Super Bowl, the World Cup, MTV's 1980s logo, the Manhattan Yellow Pages, and the Grammy Awards.
During his career, he met several presidents, saw his design welcoming visitors to the United States displayed at the Canadian and Mexican
borders, appeared on the cover of Life magazine in 1969, and became known for his "Cosmic '60s" posters.
Yoga, astrology's influence on Peter Max's art
Born Peter Max Finkelstein in Berlin on Oct. 19, 1937, he drew early life inspiration from the various cities where his family lived after fleeing Germany during the rise of Nazism in 1939. He was drawn to the bright colors of American comic books and Buddhist monasteries near where he grew up in Shanghai, as well as those he visited during trips to Tibet.
His interest in astrology, apparent in cosmic elements that often found their way into his earlier works, was further nourished after his family's move to Haifa, Israel. There, he took classes at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology as well as private art lessons, according to the Times.
During a six-month stop in Paris in 1953, Peter Max attended sketching classes at the Louvre, according to the artist's website.
He graduated from Lafayette High School in Brooklyn and pursued the arts in earnest, studying at New York City's Art Students League and the School of Visual Arts. The following decade, he was "profoundly" impacted by meeting yoga guru Swami Satchidananda Saraswati, according to his website.
"The Swami and yoga taught me a whole new way to draw," Peter Max said. "It empowered me to feel the cosmic consciousness within, and to allow that to flow out of me into my art."
As the artist's health declined, strife within his family became public due to various legal disputes. In 2019, daughter Libra Max took over as head of the family's company, replacing brother Adam Max, whom she voted to oust.
Beginning in 1971, he spent nearly two decades in seclusion, telling the Times in 1992 that "there were 17 years when I did a lot of contemplation, a lot of meditation. And I worked on my craft every day."
He is survived by Adam and Libra Max, whom he shared with his first wife, Elizabeth Nance.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Peter Max, psychedelic artist and 1960s icon, dies at 88
