Artist: Peter Max
Title: Better World
Medium: Original Acrylic on Canvas
Dimensions: 40" x 30"
Year: c. 1995-2005
Inscription: Signed "Max" on the bottom front
Documentation: Includes Peter Max studio number on back and confirmation of Studio Number from Peter Max Studio
Peter Max's Better World is a large-scale original painting that exemplifying the artist's signature blend of vivid color, expressive brushwork, and iconic imagery. Measuring an impressive 40 by 30 inches, this work commands attention with its striking scale and radiant palette. A glowing sun at the horizon dominates the center of the composition, reflected across rippling waters in luminous shades of yellow, red, and violet. Surrounding the scene, stylized trees and abstract flourishes in greens, blues, and pinks frame the composition, while a bird gliding across the water introduces a note of serenity.
The work is signed “Max" on the bottom front and is accompanied by extensive documentation confirming its authenticity. The unqiue Peter Max studio number is written on the back, along with a separate written confirmation of the Studio Number's authenticity from the Peter Max Studio. Together, these materials provide thorough verification, affirming the painting's significance as a large and highly representative original within Max's celebrated body of work.
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.
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