Peter Max – an Upper West Sider and iconic psychedelic artist of the 60s and 70s – has been under guardianship since December 2016, which has isolated him from his friends and family. All of her affairs, whether personal, financial or legal, are controlled by “court-appointed foreigners,” according to her daughter, Libra Max. Peter, who now suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, was placed under guardianship when the “court ruled that he needed protection from the alleged physical, mental and emotional abuse of his second wife, Mary,” as reported it New York Post.

Libra claims she is not allowed to visit her 84-year-old father at his apartment on the Upper West Side, the same home where she grew up. She is only allowed to see her father on a bench in Riverside Park for one hour at a time, and she must request these appointments 48 hours in advance.

These public tours are only allowed three times a week and can be canceled without details. “He’s being treated like a prisoner,” Libra told the Post, adding how “He says,“ Honey, please come up to the apartment. How many times can someone ask for companionship? He must feel terribly abandoned.

Libra has also launched a website – freepetermax.com – by which it asks supporters to sign a letter which will be “sent to the competent public officials in the matter”.

“Peter Max – pop artist, devoted and loving 84-year-old father, loyal and compassionate friend, Holocaust survivor, animal and human rights advocate and victim of Alzheimer’s disease – is kept in forced segregation in a predatory guardianship in New York City, ”the website says. “The Guardianship depleted her hard-earned living income of over $ 16 million, with millions being paid, without her permission, to guardians and court-appointed lawyers who now control every aspect of her life. “

Peter Max is a Holocaust survivor. Libra states that “their deepest fear was that their friends and family would be taken away from them.”

It is the last of a ongoing dramatic saga around Peter Max. Max’s children have been in litigation since 2017, when Libra accused his brother Adam of allowing their father’s accountant and agent to take control of their father’s brand in order to “”enrich“themselves.

On July 18, Adam Max, 56, accused his sister Libra Max, 54, of “ousting him from their notorious father ALP’s company in a” hostile takeover “and moving to the presidency in February 2019, according to his trial in Manhattan Supreme Court. ”wrote the New York Post.

The ALP brand was launched by Peter Max, 84, and has a total of three shareholders; Peter’s two children have a 40 percent stake and Peter, with the representation of a guardian, owns the final 20 percent.

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Along with Adam’s lawsuit filed on June 18, there was a letter calling for a special meeting to discuss the “withdrawal of Libra Max” and another man as the director of the company. Adam also wanted to discuss the election of three new directors at this meeting. With no response, a second letter was sent, but court documents claim it also went unanswered.

Adam says his stake in ALP gives him the right to call a meeting, but Libra “will do everything in its power to prevent any shareholder meeting from taking place,” court documents say. Adam’s attorney claims that ALP is supposed to hold annual meetings of shareholders every year in June, but they haven’t taken place since 2018.

Libra attorney Jeffrey Eilender said in a statement that “it’s time for Adam to stop the lawsuits and make peace with his sister. Adam lost all of his legal battles against Libra; all his previous claims have already been rejected by the court. The new claims are no different – warmed up on milk and unfounded. “

The NY Post went on to say that Peter Max, “whose works are on display at the Museum of Modern Art, has an estimated fortune of at least $ 65 million. A close friend of the Rolling Stones, the German immigrant enriched himself by plastering his psychedelic patterns on postage stamps, cereal boxes, album covers, even a Continental Airlines Boeing 777. Nancy Reagan asked him to paint Statute of Liberty portraits at the White House, after which he helped raise funds to restore the monument.

Postage stamp from 1974 commemorating Expo ’74. Photo: USPS, public domain via Wikimedia Commons

While Peter Max Studio was previously located at 37 West 65th Street, a lease was signed for a new space at West Chelsea in 2019. That same year, Mary Max, wife of Peter, committed suicide in their Upper West Side apartment.

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