# Was "Artist" Peter max a Real person? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 2, 2007, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-artist-peter-max-a-real-person/402446 "2007-05-02T12:21:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-artist-peter-max-a-real-person/402446/21 "2007-05-03T14:30:12Z")
[QUOTE=panache45] You are never going to live this down. This statement will (rightfully) haunt you till your dying breath, and even beyond that. This statement will be the albatross around your neck, like Bush Sr.'s “Read my lips.” [/QUOTE] When did I ever SAY I liked Kinkade? I stand by my observation: Peter Max’s work is formulaic, and simple (mainly line drawings with filled-in colors). Kinkade (even though he paints the same hackneyed scenes) uses perspective, shading, and true vanishing points. Sure, his stuff is mostly fluff-but he exhibits vastly more sophisticated painting techniques than Max’s one-dimensional drawings. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-artist-peter-max-a-real-person/402446/22 "2007-05-03T16:45:24Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] A Co-worker once brought a advertising brochure for something or other into the office. I looked at the painting on the front and said without thinking “Looks like a Peter Max.” On the back was “Front painting by Peter Max.” Her jaw just dropped. [/QUOTE] Max also did this very minimalist [Yes album cover](http://www.progreviews.com/reviews/display.php?rev=yes-talk). ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-artist-peter-max-a-real-person/402446/23 "2007-05-04T01:46:24Z")
Hey, it’s a _de gustibus non disputandum_ thing, really, about Max’s own style; but **ralph** ’s puzzlement as to whether it was a real artist can be explained as the result of having had whatever stylings _were_ once “original” in that “school” of artwork be reproduced and imitated and revisited and commercialized over decades until thoroughly flogged into the ground, so it becomes hard to believe for some people that once there were actual creators from whom this style was taken as something new and exciting. This is sometimes done by the artists to themselves, it’s not unknown for authors/artists/performers to, over time, begin repeating themselves and “telephoning it in” and what was once “creative” starts to look trite. Some opinion-makers in the art world saw the Edelmann/Max stoned-coloring-book school as “fresh” and “different”, vis-a-vis traditional illustration, when it first came in. Some others probably felt like **ralph** even from the beginning. First group got to write the history. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-artist-peter-max-a-real-person/402446/24 "2007-05-04T02:01:40Z")
[QUOTE=Bridget Burke] And why is _every_ window lit? [/QUOTE] [Trace Adkins will explain.](http://www.sing365.com/music/Lyric.nsf/Every-Light-In-The-House-lyrics-Trace-Adkins/41D8042CE466148D4825692A0012492C) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-artist-peter-max-a-real-person/402446/25 "2007-05-04T07:18:35Z")
Yes, he is real. And alive. > **[Peter Max](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Max)** > > Peter Max (born Peter Max Finkelstein, October 19, 1937) is an American artist of German-Jewish origin, known for using bright colors in his work. Works by Max are associated with the visual arts and culture of the 1960s, particularly psychedelic art and pop art. > Peter Max was born in Berlin, the son of German Jews Salla and Jakob. They fled Berlin in 1938, settling in Shanghai, China, where they lived for the next ten years. Peter's time in Shanghai influenced much of his later work. He loved... If it makes you feel any better, he was born _Peter Finkelstein_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-artist-peter-max-a-real-person/402446.md?page=1)