Peter Max
From his website:
European born, Peter was raised in Shanghai, China, where he spent his first ten years. He lived in a pagoda-style house situated amidst a Buddhist monastery, a Sikh temple and a Viennese cafe. And yet, with all that richness and diversity of culture, he still had a dream of an adventure yet to come in a far-off land called America....
But the American adventure was far in the future. In the decade to follow, Peter would discover many other fascinating worlds that fanned the fires of his imagination.
At the age of ten, Peter and his parents traveled across the vast expanse of China to a Tibetan mountain camp at the foothills of the Himalayas. Then they journeyed 9,000 feet up to a beautiful, white-turreted hotel in a mountain paradise that seemed like Shangri-La.
After their return to Shanghai, the family left on another voyage of discovery, around India, the continent of Africa, and Israel, where Peter studied art with a Viennese fauve painter. It was in Israel that young Peter also developed a love and fascination for astronomy.
In 1953, Peter's family emigrated to America after a six-month visit to Paris. Though it was a relatively short stay, Peter enrolled in an art school and absorbed the culture and art heritage of Paris. At the age of sixteen, Peter realized his childhood vision and arrived in America....
As the '60s progressed, the photo collages gave way, to his famous "Cosmic '60s" style, with its distinctive line work and bold color combinations.
This new style developed as a spontaneous creative urge, following Max's meeting with Swami Satchidananda, an Indian Yoga master who taught him meditation and the spiritual teachings of the East.
Max's Cosmic '60s art, with its transcendental imagery captured the imagination of the entire generation and catapulted the young artist to fame and fortune.
Max was suddenly on numerous magazine covers, including Life Magazine, and appeared on national TV. Max's visual impact on the '60s has often been compared to the influence the Beatles had with their music.
In the 1970s, Max gave up his commercial pursuits and went into retreat to begin painting in earnest....
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