Preview Lot
PETER MAX(American, born 1937)Portrait of Bebe
11 June 2025, 12:00 EDT
Skinner Marlborough, MassachusettsUS$15,000 - US$25,000
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Jewel Bernier
Cataloguer
Bids (Bonhams Skinner)
PETER MAX (American, born 1937)
Portrait of Bebe
signed 'MAX / 74' (upper left); inscribed, signed, and dated 'Bebe ... / MAX / NOV 12 / 1974 / N.Y.C.' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
40 x 50 in. (101.6 x 127.0 cm)
framed 45 1/4 x 55 1/4 x 1 3/4 in. (114.9 x 140.3 x 4.4 cm)
signed 'MAX / 74' (upper left); inscribed, signed, and dated 'Bebe ... / MAX / NOV 12 / 1974 / N.Y.C.' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
40 x 50 in. (101.6 x 127.0 cm)
framed 45 1/4 x 55 1/4 x 1 3/4 in. (114.9 x 140.3 x 4.4 cm)
Footnotes
Provenance
Private Collection, New York (gifted by the artist).
N.B.
Peter Max, born in 1937 in Berlin Germany, was only a year old when his family fled the country to Shanghai, China where they spent the following 10 years. After a short stint in Israel and then in Pairs, the family settled in Brooklyn, New York, in 1953, where Max continued to pursue his interest in the arts. In 1956 he began his training at the Art Students League of New York, studying under artist Frank J. Reilly. Now widely regarded as an icon of the Psychedelic and Pop art movements of the 1960s and 1970s, Max's works are unmistakable. Throughout his artistic career, Peter Max has used recognizable symbols found within American culture and western advertising and gained popularity through his embrace of mass production.
The present work is a slight departure from the bright neon color pallet Peter Max is so beloved for, instead opting for more muted tones. Though the work is far from dull and in Peter Max fashion, he includes bright pops of pink throughout. It is evident this was a collaboration between artist and sitter as we see influence from both personalities shine through.