Peter Max, Pop Art Icon of the 1960s, Dies at 88

Peter Max (born Peter Max Finkelstein on October 19, 1937, in Berlin, Germany) died on Monday, September 14, 2026, at a hospital in Manhattan at the age of 88; the news was announced on Wednesday by a family spokesperson, according to Reuters (September 17, 2026).

His dreamlike, vividly colored works — cosmic landscapes, floating peace symbols, kaleidoscopic butterflies, soft clouds — gave the American hippie movement of the 1960s its artistic backdrop and became as much a part of the era’s youth culture as rock music. He portrayed the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Mick Jagger.

Village Voice magazine described him in 1967 as a “visionary enchanted by time, space and evolution.” His other creations include a U.S. postage stamp (1974), posters for the Super Bowl, the World Cup and the Kentucky Derby; he also donated a painting of the Statue of Liberty to the Reagan Presidential Library.

He was born in Nazi Berlin in 1937; his Jewish family fled in 1938, first to Shanghai, China, before settling in Brooklyn when he was 16. He stepped out of the spotlight in the 1970s but continued with major commissions.

He is survived by his daughter Libra and son Adam. “My father was my best friend… I hope that alongside his artistic legacy, people will remember his kindness, his gentleness and how much he valued putting joy into the world,” his daughter said.