Peter Max Mona Lisa Mixed Media Original Painting with ink and Collage, 14x12 1996 with Signature, Label, and Studio

Artist: Peter Max
Title: Mona Lisa
Medium: Mixed Media Original Acrylic Painting with ink and Collage
Dimensions: 14" x 12"
Year: 1996
Inscription: Signed "Max" on the bottom front
Documentation: Includes Peter Max studio label with Studio number on back and confirmation of Studio Number from Peter Max Studio

Peter Max's "Mona Lisa" (1996) is an original mixed media painting that demonstrates the artist's signature fusion of bold color, expressive brushwork, and iconic imagery. At the center of the composition is a rectangular depiction of the famed Mona Lisa, a subject that has inspired countless reinterpretations across art history. Max situates this image within a vibrant framework of layered borders in shades of purple, blue, and pink, each applied with his characteristic confidence and energy. Hand-painted motifs further enrich the surface, adding depth and rhythm to the overall design.

As with much of Max's oeuvre, the painting reflects his ability to reimagine cultural icons through his own vivid artistic lens. The heavy brushstrokes, combined with the interplay of paint, ink, and collage, create a textured, dimensional quality that emphasizes both spontaneity and structure. The vibrant palette—a hallmark of Max's practice—imbues the composition with vitality, while the layered borders draw the viewer's eye inward toward the central figure.

The work is signed "Max" on the bottom front and is accompanied by extensive documentation confirming its authenticity. Included are the official Peter Max studio label with Studio Number affixed to the back of the artwork, as well as confirmation of this Studio Number from the Peter Max Studio. This thorough verification underscores the significance of the painting as an original work within Max's celebrated body of art.

About Peter Max

Peter Max (b. 1937) is a German-born American artist whose vivid color schemes and graphic style made him one of the most recognizable figures in postwar American art. Closely associated with the psychedelic movement of the 1960s, Max became a leading figure in merging fine art, popular culture, and commercial design.

Born Peter Max Finkelstein in Berlin, he and his family fled Nazi Germany in 1938, settling first in Shanghai, where he spent much of his childhood. Later, the family moved through Israel and France before arriving in the United States in the 1950s. This international upbringing exposed Max to diverse cultural traditions and shaped the eclectic visual vocabulary he later developed.

In New York, Max studied at the Art Students League, training in traditional painting and drawing before moving toward a more graphic, stylized approach. By the mid-1960s, his posters and prints—featuring bold color gradients, cosmic imagery, and flowing forms—became emblematic of the counterculture era. His instantly recognizable style quickly spread through mass media, cementing his reputation as a cultural figure as much as a fine artist.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Max expanded his career with high-profile commissions. He created official artwork for the U.S. Bicentennial, Super Bowls, the World Cup, and the Statue of Liberty centennial, and designed postage stamps for the United States Postal Service. His patriotic imagery, portraits of American presidents, and recurring cosmic themes reflected both national identity and a universal optimism.

Critics have sometimes debated the commercial ubiquity of his work, yet Max's ability to synthesize popular design with fine art traditions secured his place in the lineage of Pop Art. Like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, he blurred boundaries between art and mass culture, helping redefine how art functioned in an era dominated by media and reproduction.

Today, Peter Max's paintings, prints, and sculptures remain widely collected, and his work continues to appear in both museums and popular culture. His vibrant palette, stylized forms, and recurring motifs of cosmic landscapes and patriotic imagery have made him a lasting symbol of American art in the second half of the twentieth century.