The Art of Peter Max

by Charles A. Riley II, Peter Max, Charles A. Riley

A comprehensive retrospective illustrates the artist's life and prolific career as reflected in his works and includes 350 full-color images, many previously unpublished.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2002

Reviews

[Jessica Mae Stover]

Imagine my surprise when I looked up the artist’s Wikipedia page and learned that his felony conviction that is related to his work was omitted from the biographical timeline in this book. (His other notable, alleged crimes came later after publication. Via a quick search, I can’t tell if and how the latest case has been decided?) Typically I would file this as a conflict of interest, especially given the author-scholar’s bit in the back about following the artist across his lavish lifestyle and associated gushing, however it looks like the book’s copyright is not to the author-scholar but to the artist/subject (Max). So is this a work-for-hire? What is it? If anyone has studied the text more closely, would love to know.

Good for a catalog of the art but I wouldn’t trust the text and framing.

2026

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel kind of embarrassed to admit how much I enjoy his art as I feel it really dates me. I do love the way he uses color in his paintings. And I learned from this book that he can paint in various styles, not just the one with which I was most familiar.

[Dani Shuping · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Max is an iconic figure in the world of Pop Art creating portraits and parodies of everything from the Statue of Liberty to the Mona Lisa on everything from large canvases to the sides of airplanes. Max's art is made of bright vibrant swirling colors that make one feel...happy to be alive. This big coffee table book has accompanying essays that discuss Max's life and work and place him in the context of history, but it's an easy to read essay and fun to read. But the big selling point of this book is the fantastic illustrations found throughout the book, from the splash pages to the very end. Every photograph captures the intensity and vibrancy of Max's work and make it easy to see why he's so well known.

[Tvsnarkie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have this book autographed.
Peter Max was very nice to me and he sent me an autographed poster.
I had some "Yellow Submarine" Cells that my ex-husband had bought me (we were still married) and I wanted Mr. Max to sign them. Turns out they were just "based on his work" and these cells should not have been sold as Peter Max.

He had me check our paperwork and we realized that my husband was sort of "tricked" into believing they were Peter Max.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Art of Peter Max by Charles A. Riley II (Harry N. Abrams Inc. 2002)(760.092) is a huge coffee-table book which features the beautiful work of Peter Max. Peter Max was closely associated with 1960's psychedelia. Mind blowing! My rating: 7/10, finished 11/17/11.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Important in the '70's, and retro.

[Smitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look into Peter Max's upbringing and practice, lushly printed, but annoyingly breathless in constantly reiterating how famous he is.