A multi-dimensional creative artist, Peter Max's award-winning work has appeared on everything from a US Postal Stamp, to Dale Earnhardt's racecar, to a Boeing 777. In his quest to share his art with millions, Max has commemorated several events such as The Super Bowl, The Grammys, and The Woodstock Music Festival.

In 2002, Max designed the mural for the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. After the terrible tragedies of September 11th, Max made a tribute to the New York City firefighters who died in the collapse of the World Trade Center. He devoted efforts towards painting the portrait of each of the 356 firefighters who lost their lives. After unveiling his work before 17,000 people at Madison Square Gardens, Max presented each portrait to the respective families. Additionally, Max painted several posters and donated proceeds to various 9/11 charities.

Though born in Germany, Max was raised in Shanghai, China, where he spent his first ten years. As a child, Max developed a love for America through exposure to American comic books, radio broadcasts, and cinema shows-much of which stimulated his imagination. At the age of sixteen, he immigrated to the United States with his family. Upon completing High School, Max continued his studies at The Art Student's League, a renowned, traditional academy in Manhattan, where he mastered the art of realism. By the time Max had graduated, however, realism had lost its popularity and was no longer in high demand. Max became fascinated with new trends in commercial illustration and graphic arts, and saw this as an opportunity to creatively share his work. By combining his own brand of realism with graphic art techniques, Max developed an original style that came to define the era and establish him as a pop icon.

From artist to entrepreneur, Max began to license his artwork. Max became widely recognized, appearing on national television as well as numerous magazine covers, including "Life," "People," and "Time." In the 1970's, Max gave up his commercial success and went into retreat, submersing himself in his art for several years. Max emerged with a primary focus on paintings, mixed media works, and limited graphic editions. Of the thousands of requests that came in for posters, Max was drawn to those that were in synch with his own concerns: environmental, human, and animal rights.

In 1976, Max began his annual Fourth of July tradition of painting the Statue of Liberty, and personally helped to actualize the monument's restoration in 1986. In 1989, for the 20th anniversary of Woodstock, Max was asked to create the world's largest rock and roll stage for the Moscow Music Peace Festival. Soon after the festival, in October, 1989, Max unveiled his "40 Gorbys," a colorful homage to Mikhail Gorbachev.

In 1991, Max paid respect to another great world figure, His Holiness The Dalai Lama, with an installation of 108 portraits of the Tibetan leader. As a painter for four previous U.S. Presidents, Carter, Ford, Bush, and Reagan, in 1993, Max was approached by the inaugural committee to create posters for Bill Clinton's inauguration. He was later invited to the White House to paint the signing of the Peace Accord. In 1999, Max set a record (beating his own prior) for painting the largest mural: a 600 foot stage for the 1999 Woodstock celebration.

His hopeful nature, goodwill, and sense of responsibility keep his artwork attuned to the pulse of our times.

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