LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – Peter Max figures he and Bill Clinton go pretty well together, so he said it came naturally to pick a selection of his work for an exhibition at the Clinton Presidential Center.
The pop artist known for his colorful canvases and psychedelic portrayal of cultural icons, became friends with Bill and Hillary Clinton after the 1993 inauguration, and said they told him they had posters of his on their dorm room walls when in college.
“I was beyond belief thrilled,” Max said.
Now, Max’s work hangs through three floors of the museum at Clinton’s presidential library for a show that begins Monday, Presidents Day, and runs through May 25.
The exhibition includes Max’s depiction of presidents; American symbols, such as the White House and the Statue of Liberty; and other images of his adopted country and beyond. Portraits range from side-by-side interpretations of DaVinci’s Mona Lisa – one so dark she almost disappears, the other a rack of nine squares of her face, splashed with bright colors.
Max recalled attending Clinton’s first inauguration, with a prime seat just a few feet from where Clinton took the oath of office. Beforehand, Max had painted 100 portraits of Clinton, an assemblage that Clinton saw on his way out of the Capitol for his first trip to the White House.
Max said Betty Currie, Clinton’s secretary, later told him that the president said, “If I hadn’t just been sworn in, this (seeing his portraits by Max) would have been one of the highlights of my life.”
“For years and years,” Max continued in a telephone interview, “I remembered this story. I didn’t dare tell anybody – it would sound like I’m exaggerating.”