Pablo Picasso Quotes on Art

Pablo Picasso was one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. Georges Braque and Picasso founded the Cubist art movement which influenced many other painters and sculptors. Picasso was a prolific artist who worked in a variety of styles and mediums throughout his career. He produced paintings, drawings, prints, collage, sculpture, stage sets, and ceramics. Famous Pablo Picasso paintings include “Family of Saltimbanques”, “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon”, “Three Musicians”, and “Guernica”.

Mini biography: Born Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso on the 25th of October, 1881 in Malaga, Spain. His mother was María Picasso y López and his father (artist and art teacher) was Don José Ruiz y Blasco. Picasso was married twice and had four children: Paulo, Maya, Claude, and Paloma. He married Olga Khokhlova and Jacqueline Roque. Important relationships included Marie-Thérèse Walter, Dora Maar, and Françoise Gilot. Pablo Picasso died on the 8th of April, 1973 in Mougins, France. Picasso was 91 years old when he passed away.

Pablo Picasso Art Quotes

Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not. Pablo Picasso

There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, thanks to their art and intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun. Pablo Picasso

When I was a child my mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general. If you become a monk, you’ll be the pope.’ Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.Pablo Picasso

I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else. Pablo Picasso

Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working. Pablo Picasso

Nature does many things the way I do, but she hides them! Pablo Picasso

Art is not the application of a canon of beauty but what the instinct and the brain can conceive beyond any canon. When we love a woman we don’t start measuring her limbs. Pablo Picasso

Art is the elimination of the unnecessary. Pablo Picasso

Art is never chaste. It ought to be forbidden to ignorant innocents, never allowed into contact with those not sufficiently prepared. Yes, art is dangerous. Where it is chaste, it is not art. Pablo Picasso

Painting is just another way of keeping a diary. Pablo Picasso

The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place; from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web. Pablo Picasso

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. Pablo Picasso

If there is something to steal, I steal it!. Pablo Picasso

Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing? Can one really explain this? no. Just as one can never learn how to paint. Pablo Picasso

Painting is stronger than me, it makes me do its bidding. Pablo Picasso

When we discovered Cubism, we did not have the aim of discovering Cubism. We only wanted to express what was in us. Pablo Picasso

People want to find a “meaning” in everything and everyone. That’s the disease of our age, an age that is anything but practical but believes itself to be more practical than any other age. Pablo Picasso

Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself, and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others. It leads to sterility. Pablo Picasso

Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. Pablo Picasso

Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone. Pablo Picasso

I don’t say everything, but I paint everything. Pablo Picasso

Art Quotes About Pablo Picasso

Picasso is the reason why I paint. He is the father figure, who gave me the wish to paint. Francis Bacon

Picasso was one of that genius caste which includes Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Van Gogh and above all Velázquez. Francis Bacon

Picasso was the first person to produce figurative paintings which overturned the rules of appearance; he suggested appearance without using the usual codes, without respecting the representational truth of form, but using a breath of irrationality instead, to make representation stronger and more direct; so that form could pass directly from the eye to the stomach without going through the brain. Francis Bacon Quotes

Probably seeing the Guernica was my favorite thing when I was a kid. I liked Rauschenberg a lot when I used to live on the Lower East Side. Jean-Michel Basquiat Quotes

The things that Picasso and I said to one another during those years will never be said again, and even if they were, no one would understand them anymore. It was like being roped together on a mountain. Georges Braque Quotes

I’ve never believed in God, but I believe in Picasso. Diego Rivera Quotes

With Jean-Michel or Picasso, the fact that they could do it so easily is what makes the work, in the end, so great. They had absolute fearlessness. If you’re not fearless about changes, then you won’t progress. Christopher Wool Quotes

Pablo Picasso Self Portrait Painting

More on Spanish Artist Pablo Picasso

How has Pablo Picasso influenced your art making? Is he the greatest artist of the 20th century? What about Cezanne or Matisse? Let us know what you think about Picasso in the comments below.

For more on the great Spanish artist here’s three excellent Pablo Picasso books: “Picasso: An Intimate Portrait”, “Picasso Sculpture”, and “A Life of Picasso: The Prodigy 1881 to 1906”.