Pop artist Peter Max to make appearances at two SWFL galleries

Peter Max COURTESY PHOTO World-renowned pop artist Peter Max is back in Southwest Florida through Jan. 31 at the Olde Florida Gallerie in the Bell Tower Shops in Fort Myers and the Road Show Company Gallery at 375 Broad Avenue South, Naples. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Art is available for purchase.

More than 100 original Peter Max paintings will be presented, from his world-famous “Cosmic” images and iconic paintings such as the “Statue of Liberty” and “Flag with Heart,” to his most recent works, including portraits of the Master Painters Picasso, Rembrandt, Van Gogh and da Vinci.

Mr. Max will make appearances at the Olde Florida Gallerie in Fort Myers from 6-9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29, and from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30. He will be at the Road Show Company Gallery from 6-9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30, and from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 31. Reservations are requested for the meet the artist receptions by calling the Olde Florida Gallerie at 415-7000 or the Road Show Company Gallery at (888) 513-8385.

Peter Max has a long-standing career as the preeminent pop artist in America. Mr. Max has a long-standing career as the preeminent pop artist in America. He and his vibrant colors have become part of the fabric of contemporary culture. He has been referred to as a pop icon, neo fauvist, abstract expressionist and America’s “Painter Laureate,” having painted for the last six U.S. presidents and various heads of state. With more than 100 oneman museum exhibitions worldwide, including the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, Staatliche Kunsthalle Museum in Berlin and, most recently, the El Paso Museum of Fine Art, Tennessee State Museum and De Young Museum in San Francisco, he is America’s most well known and mostcollected artist.

COURTESY IMAGES Often incorporating iconic symbols of America into his work, his “Flag With Heart” impressionistic paintings of the American flag are in permanent installations in the Carter, Reagan and Bush presidential libraries in addition to his Statue of Liberty paintings, which have become an annual painting tradition since America’s Bicentennial, in 1976, and led to Mr. Max playing a lead role in the renovation of the Statue of Liberty. From art that appeared on the first U.S. 10-cent stamp bearing the title “Preserve the Environment,” to 235 U.S. Border murals greeting millions of people entering America each year, he seeks to capture

themes of America at its finest in his art. 