Mary Max has died at the age of 52. The woman, who was the wife famous artist Peter Max, committed suicide in her New York apartment.
According to a brief statement shared by the NYPD, Mary killed herself in her Upper West Side apartment sometime over the weekend. Her body was discovered Sunday night, and it is believed that she died of nitrogen asphyxiation.
The New York Police Department and the New York Office of Chief Medical Examiner declined to reveal more details about Mary’s cause of death at the moment.
The spouse of the well known psychedelic artist had an ongoing nasty and public battle in and out of the courtroom with several members of the Max family over his multi-million dollar artwork and legacy.
81-year-old Peter suffers from dementia and accord to a lawsuit filed by his son, Adam Max; Mary has tried on numerous times to kill her husband to take over his precious art collection. Adam also claimed in court documents that Mary had verbally and physically abused Peter.
Mary also bashed 49-year-old Peter by claiming that he kidnapped her husband and hid him from her for several days.
Additionally, she accused her stepson of stealing over $4 million worth of artwork that her husband had given to her in a prenuptial agreement. Peter and Mary were married in the late 1990s.
Born in Berlin, Germany, Peter Max Finkelstein and his family fled the Nazis to China, then moved to Israel and France where he took sketch classes at the Louvre, before living in Brooklyn.
His art which is mainly focused on pop culture with a splash of psychedelia has been admired by millions of people including Taylor Swift, Ed Sullivan, John Lennon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton.
Due to the sensitive nature of this news article, if you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, it is advised to reach out the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “home” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
