Max - The Universe According to Peter Max

I would like to thank Victor Zurbel, my dear friend for forty-five years, for helping me to craft the story of my life with great style and dexterity as well as for beautifully curating my artwork.

And many thanks to all those at the Peter Max Studio and HarperCollins Publishers who have contributed their time, energy, and talent to help bring this book to fruition.

Om Shanti,

Love, Peter Max

I would like to acknowledge Peter Max (Atman) for being such a dynamic, creative force in the world of art, and for fostering his visions of peace, love, charity, democracy, human and animal rights, and global unity. It has been a great honor to know you.

Om Shanti to you too, Bro.

Victor Zurbel (Arjuna)

Peter Max artwork on Norwegian Lines Breakaway, 2013

For many of us, life is a journey that comes around full circle. In fact, many of my childhood experiences have come back to me in unusual and often extraordinary ways. As a young boy growing up in Shanghai, China, my passionate interest in American art and culture, especially, has come back to me in ways that have exceeded my wildest imagination. None was more surprising than to see my own face on the cover of Life magazinean icon of American media that I used to gaze at with wonder each week as a new edition would be placed on the Shanghai street vendors newsstands.

Recently, in 2012, after an absence of more than half a century, I revisited Shanghai, and, of course, with its dazzling superabundance of skyscrapers, the sprawling megalopolis has left little of the past. Nonetheless, visiting the Hongkou district, where I had lived, brought back some poignant memories. One such memory was of my Chinese nanny who taught me my first art lesson. She was a young girl at the time and only a few years older than me, so I wondered if she was still alive.

Upon my arrival in Shanghai, I was greeted by members of the press. I told the reporters the story of my nanny, with the hope that if she were still living, she might notice and remember me. Despite the fact that the newspapers printed my photograph, along with a story detailing my reconciliation efforts, there was no response. While I wasnt able to locate my childhood nanny, I did absorb modern Shanghai. It was a great thrill; it was truly enriching to visit the culture that had fostered my creativity in so many ways.

It was a great coincidence that shortly after my return to Shanghai, I was asked to paint the Norwegian Cruise Liness Norwegian Breakaway ship. It launched in May 2013 and at the time of its launching, was the largest ship ever to make my home, New York City, its home port. I couldnt help but draw parallels to the Conte Verde, the giant ocean liner that carried me on my magical trip across the seas at the impressionable age of one.

My life is but one in a series of countless others. My story is but part and parcel of the hundreds, thousands, even millions of other stories that comprise life. And not just life on Earth; I love the quote thats on a plaque at the New York Public Library: The universe is not made up of atoms; its made up of stories.

Peter Max Paints the Universe, 2013, mixed media, 12 x 10

Ive always had great mentors in my life: my parents, who nurtured my creativity; my nanny in China, who taught me how to hold and use a brush; the German scientist that I met in the mountains near Tibet, who first inspired my interest in space; Professor Hnick in Israel, who taught me to paint with the perception of color; Frank Reilly, my instructor at the Art Students League, who taught me to paint in the discipline of realism; and Swami Satchidananda, the renowned Yoga master, who taught me the art of letting go and being in the flow.

PETER MAX

Tennessee State Museum-12 Images, 1993, poster, 36 x 24

The cosmos has inspired me throughout my childhood and adult life. It is a mysterious and magical realm, with new planets, moons, suns, stars, and galaxies constantly being discovered. Physicists say that there are multiple universes, and perhaps infinite parallel universes.

To me, the universe is itself the ultimate expression of creativity. That we, as human beings, have been endowed with the ability to channel that creativity fills me with a sense of awe and wonder. When I tap into my inner cosmosthat nucleus of creativity within meit becomes a source of ever-expanding possibilities, enabling me to go from one magical adventure to another. It is my hope that you, dear reader, will be inspired to tap into your own unique inner cosmos and embark on a creative journey of your own. May you forever be inspired by the lifeand the many mysteriesthat surrounds you.

In the words of the Jedi masters, May the Force be with you.

PETER MAX

Singularity Star, 2008, mixed media, 12 x 10

Sitting Dega Man, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36

Flower Blossom Lady, 1994, acrylic and silkscreen on paper, 30 x 34

Fashion Lady 1, 1982, pen and ink on paper, 7 x 5

Flower Faces 1, 1972, mixed media, 8 x 8

Angel on Sun, 1994, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48

Dancing Angels, 1982, pen and ink on paper, 8 x 10

Balls of Fire, 1972, serigraph, 22 x 30

Ibiza Crowd, 1974, pen and ink on paper, 10 x 15

Mercury Dime Lady Profile, 1989, pen and ink on paper, 7 x 5