Peter Max, 2006.
Peter Max
Born Peter Max Finkelstein on October 19,1937. He is a German-born, Jewish American artist. When he was only 1 year old, his parents fled Nazi Germany and lived in China for 10 years. He also lived in India and Tibet, before settling in America. He is one of the most famous living artists. He has painted for 6 U.S. Presidents and his art is on display in Presidential Libraries and U.S. Embassies. He uses bold colors, creating uplifting images. You can find his artwork in his book The Art of Peter Max and his website at this link.
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"I’m positive and optimistic. It’s all about brightness. We are living in a euphoric world all we need to do is see it. I paint that." - Peter Max |
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| He designed the 2010, 10th Anniversary Edition of VegNews Magazine. | Peter Max Art Gallery in Las Vegas. | Continental Airlines Boeing decorated by Peter Max. |
| In 2002, a cow escaped from a Cincinnati, Ohio slaughterhouse by jumping over a 6 foot fence. It took 11 days to catch her. Thanks to Peter Max, she was safely brought to the New York shelter of Farm Sanctuary, where she lived out the rest of her life. They named her Cincinnati Freedom. About this, Peter Max has said: | |
| "There was a cow in Cincinnati that jumped over a seven [six] foot fence as all the cows before her were stunned and cut into pieces. She saw that. It happened so fast it was just a total freak out. She jumped over the lowest thing which was this fence. When she landed on the other side she fell on her face and hurt herself pretty badly but didn’t break any bones. She was all bruised and ran into the forest miles away. I said, "Greggy, do me a favor. Get me somebody on the phone". ... I said, "Yeah. I’m calling about the cow. I must, must, must, adopt this cow. You must let me have her. Whatever it takes!" I spent the next 55 hours on the phone. About seven days, six seven hours a day. I was number seventy four in line for the cow but a lot of weird people wanted her. People wanted her for their backyard. The cow was wanted by zoos and circus’s and finally, on a Sunday night I got a call telling me that we got the cow." |
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| "She’s a three and a half year old girl, and when you understand her plight, that she’s only a little girl, it makes you want to cry! If she were a puppy dog, or a little kitty you would hold her in your arms. She’s the sweetest thing. And the fact that we saved one out of the seven billion that are killed every year I think is great." | |
Other quotes by Peter Max:
| "I’m a vegan. When I’m at the easel it’s Peter Max the artist but when I walk away it’s Peter the animal protection person." |
| When asked how he became vegetarian and then vegan, he answered: |
| "When I was in my mid-20s, in Paris, I met Swami Satchidananda. He introduced me to yoga, meditation, and a vegetarian diet. So, I became a vegetarian, and I stayed a vegetarian for many years. I helped Swami Satchidananda create yoga centers around the United States, and at the centers I met a lot of people who were vegan." |
| "I'm completely an animal rights person. I would like animals not to suffer so much at the hands of humanity. I believe that in due time, human beings will respect other animals. Hippocrates once said, "All souls are the same, just our bodies are different." If people could really take that in and understand it, then they would respect a moth, a bug." |
| "If I see a bug crawling on the floor, I rush to the bug before my kitties get to him. I pick him up, take him to the park. ... I feel so good every time I do it. I tell you, it's an overwhelming feeling. The bug is so small, and the feeling so huge." |
| "I’ve gotten to really understand the spirit of animals. I have five cats at home and one of them has become so attached to me, she’s my little girl. Wherever I go she follows. All day long, if I’m home, she’s wherever I am. If I’m in bed she curls right up next to me. ... It’s a very nice thing to know the spirit of an animal." |
| "I think when people become involved in protecting animals, saving them and caring for them it really develops the compassionate heart. We can go on to endless proportions with that. People think, "well what about all the human beings" but when you protect an animal you are compassionate to human beings a hundred fold. So it’s all for human beings. Its for the world." |
| "These sweet animals live in a holocaust, so to speak, but people are waking up. Especially the young kids. I think it’s all just a matter of time." |
Quotes are from his 2005 interview with Vrnda Devi and his 2010 interview with the Vegetarian Times.
Image of plane by Montague Smith: GNU FDL License
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