The second wife of psychedelic painter Peter Max claims her stepson has stolen $4.3 million worth of artwork that her husband gave her in a prenuptial agreement.
Mary Max’s Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit comes after Peter Max’s son Adam lost a legal battle to have his 77-year-old father removed from the artist’s Riverside Drive apartment, where, Adam claimed, Mary, 48, was trying to “murder” her husband.
The suit says the 85 paintings were given to Mary “many years ago by her beloved husband Peter Max, the world-famous artist.”
Reps for Mary have said that Peter suffers from mild dementia.
Mary says Adam, 51, lifted the pieces, including “Liberty Head,” “Cosmic Runner” and “Lady in Red with Floating Vase,” from a New Jersey warehouse where they were stored.
Adam has also taken control of her father’s company, ALP Inc., and cut off his resources, forcing Peter to have to ask his son for “pocket money,” according to court papers.
The art grab “is part of a malicious campaign by [Adam] to punish Mary for seeking legal protection for Peter against [his son’s] undue influence and manipulations,” the suit says.
Adam’s lawyer, Eric Hellige, called the suit a “part of Mary’s continuing efforts to grab assets” from her ailing husband.
“There’s all kinds of questions about whether she’s entitled to this artwork,” Hellige told The Post.
He said a neutral guardian, who was appointed by a judge to look after Peter’s interests, is trying to freeze the artist’s assets to prevent Mary from taking what doesn’t belong to her.
Mary is suing for the value of the artwork plus $5 million in punitive damages.
Peter Max, whose work hangs in The Whitney Museum of American Art, still goes to his Manhattan painting studio every day and travels around the country for exhibitions of his bright, colorful pop art.