Peter Max colored our world — his bright posters practically defined the psychedelic ’60s. And he practices what he paints, clad on a recent day in a purple cashmere sweater and red sneakers, at his studio near Lincoln Center. Among the works: a purple-and-pink baby grand piano signed by Ringo Starr.
Heady stuff for a gangly guy born Peter Max Finklestein 76 years ago in Berlin. He was 15 or so when his family landed in Bensonhurst — and it was love at first sight. “I had such a wish to be in New York for years and years, because I’d seen pictures of the Empire State Building,” says Max.
If he hadn’t been an artist, he says, he would have been an astronomer. No wonder his new memoir is titled “The Universe of Peter Max.” This is his artistic New York.
The Statue of Liberty
His studio, West 65th Street, between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West
“I have two gigantic floors and about 60 people working for me. I even have a full-time DJ who plays music for me. It inspires me. I love fusion, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, bepop, every genre of music? .?.?.?Ringo [Starr] wanted me to paint a [Baldwin] piano for him. Baldwin liked it so much, they sent me another one — I painted that, too! Then Ringo came in and saw it. He said, ‘Give me a brush.’ And he painted that — the word ‘Ringo’ followed by a star.”
The Empire State Building
“Twenty-four hours or less after [my family came to New York], I begged my mother to take me to the Empire State Building. It was the biggest building in New York, then, and an icon, and I wanted to be on it. I couldn’t believe you could go all the way on the top! When I was first starting out, I was making collages and I used the Empire State Building in them. Now there are probably 100 buildings taller.”
Antique stores on Broadway and Eighth Street
“Me and Andy Warhol used to collect cookie jars. I used to go to this antique store, I forget the name. One day, I met him there, and we bonded. I told him I’d like to collect more jars, and he said, ‘Me too. You go first, Peter.’ We’d buy three or four, go across the street, get a decaf. We met for two or three years. I have hundreds of cookie jars, [up to the studio] ceiling.”
His home, between 83rd and 86th streets, Riverside Drive
“I got this place 25 years ago. My beautiful little wife, Mary Max, and I have six kitty cats and two floors with nine or 10 windows each. I look to my right or left, and I see the park below and the Hudson River and New Jersey. Every once in a while, I see the Norwegian cruise ship I painted. I didn’t paint the actual ship — I painted a 12-foot-long model of it, then 430 artists painted [the ship]. What I did in a couple of days, it took them three months!”
The Hayden Planetarium, 81 Central Park West, between 80th and 81st streets
“If you want to be involved, enthralled or overwhelmed, universe-wise, it’s right there! The guy who runs it, Neil deGrasse Tyson, wrote the forward to my book. I chose him because he’s closest to the stars and planets. There are hundreds of trillions of suns in the universe — it’s like you went to the beach and threw all the sand you could see up in the sky. That’s how many planets we have. And on every planet is this perfect thing called species. Where is all this coming from? It’s mindboggling!”
The Art Students League, 215 W. 57th St.
“I studied there with a guy named Frank Reilly. I came in once and did a double take — Norman Rockwell was sitting there! For a young artist, it was a big deal, like seeing James Dean. People in my class said, ‘Peter, [Rockwell] comes here all the time. He used to study with Reilly.’ One day I’m sitting [outside], and this chick with high heels walks by. She’s really gorgeous. She stops, looks at me and says, ‘I love your pants.’ I had paint all over my pants. I said to my friend, ‘That’s Marilyn Monroe!’ You could see her butt going: She wasn’t skinny, but beautifully packed.”