Artist: Peter Max
Title: New York Flower Show
Medium: Mixed Media Original Acrylic Painting on Paper
Dimensions: 22" x 19"
Year: 1998
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 "New York Flower Show" is an original mixed media acrylic painting on paper that encapsulates the artist's signature use of bold color, expressive brushwork, and energetic compositions. The work features a vivid bouquet rendered in sweeping, textured strokes of bright yellow, red, pink, green, and blue, creating a dynamic interplay of hues and forms. The bouquet bursts outward against a contrasting gray ground, while a hand-painted border in muted blue is accented with vibrant orange and blue strokes, framing the composition with Max's distinctive painterly flair.
Max's heavy, gestural brushstrokes give the painting a sense of movement and vitality, imbuing the floral subject with his characteristic energy. The layered application of color and the juxtaposition of saturated tones highlight his ability to transform everyday imagery into works of striking visual impact. "New York Flower Show" demonstrates Max's ongoing exploration of nature-inspired themes, filtered through the lens of his unmistakable style.
This painting is signed "Max" on the bottom front and is accompanied by extensive documentation attesting to its authenticity. The reverse includes an official Peter Max studio label with a unique Studio Number, as well as confirmation of the Studio Number from the Peter Max Studio. Together, this documentation provides thorough verification of the work's provenance, underscoring its status as an important original within Max's celebrated body of art.
About Peter Max
Peter Max (b. 1937) is a German-born American artist whose career reflects the intersections of fine art, commercial imagery, and popular culture in postwar America. Known for his vivid color palette, graphic clarity, and recurring cosmic and patriotic motifs, Max rose to prominence in the 1960s as one of the most recognizable artists of his generation. His work is frequently associated with the psychedelic art movement and with the broader blending of art and mass media that defined much of twentieth-century visual culture.
Max was born Peter Max Finkelstein in Berlin, Germany. In 1938, his family fled Nazi persecution, relocating to Shanghai, China, where he spent nearly a decade of his childhood. Shanghai's cosmopolitan environment, with its mix of Asian and European influences, introduced Max to artistic traditions outside of the Western canon, experiences that would later inform his eclectic visual vocabulary. In the late 1940s, the family moved again, first to Israel and later to Paris, before finally settling in Brooklyn, New York in 1953.
In New York, Max studied at the Art Students League, where he received traditional training in painting and drawing. His early work reflected a strong grounding in academic technique, yet he soon gravitated toward a more stylized and contemporary approach. By the early 1960s, Max had begun to develop the visual language that would define his career—bold, radiant color fields; simplified, flowing shapes; and a fascination with cosmic and dreamlike imagery.
The mid-1960s marked Max's breakthrough as an artist. His psychedelic-inspired posters and prints captured the spirit of a youth culture in search of new forms of expression and quickly became icons of the era. His work circulated widely through mass reproduction, appearing in magazines, advertisements, album covers, and other media. This accessibility helped make Max a household name, blurring the line between fine art and popular design. His colorful, optimistic imagery resonated with themes of spirituality, imagination, and expanded consciousness that were central to the cultural climate of the time.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Max extended his practice into high-profile national commissions. He created official artwork for the U.S. Bicentennial and the Statue of Liberty centennial, designed postage stamps for the United States Postal Service, and contributed imagery for major sporting events including the Super Bowl and the World Cup. His recurring use of patriotic symbols, portraits of American presidents, and depictions of the Statue of Liberty reflected his interest in American identity, while his continued exploration of cosmic and universal themes sustained continuity with his earlier work.
While Max's immense commercial success occasionally drew criticism from art historians who questioned the artistic depth of mass-produced imagery, his impact on visual culture remains significant. Like contemporaries Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, Max contributed to the redefinition of art in an age dominated by media and reproduction. His ability to move between galleries, advertising campaigns, and public commissions demonstrated a flexibility that challenged traditional distinctions between "high" and "low" art.
In subsequent decades, Max continued to produce paintings, prints, and sculpture, maintaining his distinctive style. His works are held in museum and private collections across the United States and internationally, and his imagery continues to circulate widely in popular culture.
Peter Max's career illustrates the evolution of American art in the second half of the twentieth century, particularly the merging of avant-garde aesthetics with the visual language of mass communication. His enduring motifs—radiant colors, flowing forms, cosmic landscapes, and patriotic symbols—have made him not only a representative of the 1960s countercultural era but also a lasting presence in the story of American modern art.
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