Peter Max Case

Peter Max is a German-born Jewish American who is one of the most influential artists of our time. He was born on October 19, 1937 in Berlin, Germany. He and his family then fled Nazi Germany in 1938 to escape the Holocaust. They moved to Shanghai, China and lived there for the next 10 years. His family then moved to Haifa, Israel. They eventually migrated to Paris and lived there for several months.

When Peter and his family first came to the United States in 1953, they settled in Brooklyn, New York. While there he attended Lafayette High School. Max began to formally practice art in 1956 at the Art Students League of New York in Manhattan.

In 1962, Max and a friend started a small art studio in Manhattan. A third friend then came in and they started illustrating books and drawing advertisements for major industrial powers. He also did ads for Coca-Cola and 7-UP in the 1960s. He described his work in the 60s as the "Cosmic 60s." He appeared on The Tonight Show in 1968. He was featured on the cover of LIFE magazine's September 5, 1969 edition.

In 1970, many of Max's artwork was featured in an exhibit called "The World of Peter Max" at the M.H de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco. Then in 1974 the US Postal Service as Max to create the first 10 cent stamp to commemorate the World Fair. On the 4th of July in 1976 Max started his series of paintings of the Statue of Liberty in hope to restore the statue.

Since then Max has been the official artist for many famous sporting events and entertainment shows. Some of the examples of them were the 1994 World Cup, the Grammy Awards, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Super bowl. Today, Max is an avid environmentalist and defender of human and animal rights. Max also painted a Continental Airlines Boeing 777 jet. He painted a 600 + foot stage for Woodstock, and a giant mural for the Winter Olympics.