Peter Max, Whose Psychedelic Paintings Defined the 1960s, Dies at 88

Los Angeles, September 17 — Renowned pop artist Peter Max, whose vibrant psychedelic creations epitomized the counterculture aesthetic of the 1960s, passed away on Monday at the age of 88, according to US media reports. His son, Adam Max, expressed in a statement to ABC News that he would remember his father's "extraordinary creativity, his warmth, his curiosity and the way he saw beauty and possibility everywhere."

Max's art became an integral part of American culture, but it was his relationship with his son that he would miss the most. During his illustrious career, Max produced colorfully graphic images and was credited for capturing the spirit of the 1960s "summer of love" and psychedelia. He once told ABC, "I see everything through rainbow eyes."

Max, who had been battling dementia, received his medical care at a hospital. Throughout his prolific career, his artwork adorned countless posters, often the trippy day-glow variety that adorned college dorm rooms, as well as magazine covers and government-commissioned murals at borders. He even had a postage stamp bearing his design.

Max was a prolific artist, creating marketable works that were licensed for various consumer products, including shower curtains, planes, cruise ships, and even a line of "art clocks" commissioned by General Electric. He also designed MTV's logo in the 1980s, as well as posters for the 1994 World Cup soccer tournament, the Super Bowl, and the New Orleans Jazz Festival.

Born Peter Max Finkelstein in Berlin in 1937, his family fled Germany during the rise of the Nazis and traveled through Asia, the Middle East, and Paris before settling in New York City when Max was just 16. He studied art at New York's prestigious School for Visual Arts and the Pratt Institute before establishing his own design studio.

Max was a vegetarian and a teetotaler who found inner peace through yoga rather than drugs. He was an iconic figure of his time, with his art being one of the most visible and successful in his field, according to the New York Times.

However, success came with its challenges later in his career. In 1998, Max was sentenced to community service and fined $30,000 after prosecutors charged him with concealing $714,000 in income from art sales between 1988 and 1991. He had bartered art for real estate and hidden income to buy property in Southampton, New York, the US Virgin Islands, and upstate New York.

In recent years, disputes over his treatment and ownership of his art dominated the headlines, with allegations of kidnapping, hired goons, attempted murder, and money-making schemes. These disputes primarily surrounded art auctions on cruise ships, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Norwegian.

Despite the controversies, Max continued to create and express his love for the universe. In a 2019 interview with the New York Times, Max said, "I love color. I love painting. I love shapes. I love composition. I love the people all around me. I'm adoring it all. My legacy is in the hands of other people."