One of the most famous artists of all time is no doubt the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. Pablo Picasso was not only an amazing artist but he also left us as a legacy of his many quotations.

The Spanish artist Pablo Picasso lived a very long life. During his lifetime he gave us many inspiring quotes about art, love, and living life. These are some of our favorite quotes by Pablo Picasso. Picasso has a very interesting life and to understand a bit about his quotations it is good to know a bit about the man as an artist.

Table of Contents

• Who is The Artist Pablo Picasso?
• 40 Inspiring Pablo Picasso Quotes
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Related Content
  • Why Was Impressionism Art at First Rejected?
  • What Are The Characteristics Of The Arts And Crafts Movement?

Who is The Artist Pablo Picasso?

Pablo Picasso’s full name is actually Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso. He was given all those names to honor various religious saints and some of his ancestors and relatives.

He was born in 1881 in Malaga Spain. Picasso spent most of his life in France and died in France in 1973.

Picasso was a painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and theatre designer. He is regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century and is known to have co-founded the Cubism Movement of art. To learn more about the Cubism Movement you can read our blog on The Cubism Art Movement, What You Need to Know by clicking here.

We can say that Picasso was in many ways, not just an artist but also an inventor. He invented the artistic technique of the constructed sculpture and co-invented the collage technique. He was also known to develop and explore a variety of styles of art.

What makes Picasso unique as an artist is that he also lived a long and fulfilling life. (He died at age 91). So besides his art, he also left us with a legacy of many of his thoughts and quotations about art and life.

40 Inspiring Pablo Picasso Quotes

Here are some of my favorite curated Pablo Picasso quotes:

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” – Pablo Picasso

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

“Painting is a blind man’s profession. He paints not what he sees, but what he feels, what he tells himself about what he has seen.”- Pablo Picasso

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” – Pablo Picasso

“I’d like to live as a poor man with lots of money.” – Pablo Picasso

“Action is the foundational key to all success.” – Pablo Picasso

“Every positive value has its price in negative terms… the genius of Einstein leads to Hiroshima.” – Pablo Picasso

“Never permit a dichotomy to rule your life, a dichotomy in which you hate what you do so you can have pleasure in your spare time. Look for a situation in which your work will give you as much happiness as your spare time.” – Pablo Picasso

“To finish a work? To finish a picture? What nonsense! To finish it means to be through with it, to kill it, to rid it of its soul, to give it its final blow the coup de grace for the painter as well as for the picture.” – Pablo Picasso

“Good artists copy, great artists steal.” – Pablo Picasso

“I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them.” – Pablo Picasso

“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” –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

“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

“When you start with a portrait and search for a pure form, a clear volume, through successive eliminations, you arrive inevitably at the egg. Likewise, starting with the egg and following the same process in reverse, one finishes with the portrait.” – 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

“The older you get the stronger the wind gets – and it’s always in your face.” – Pablo Picasso

“Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions.” – Pablo Picasso

“Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot, others transform a yellow spot into the sun.” – Pablo Picasso

“Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.” – Pablo Picasso

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

“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” – Pablo Picasso

“He can who thinks he can, and he can’t who thinks he can’t. This is an inexorable, indisputable law.” – Pablo Picasso

“The people who make art their business are mostly imposters.” – Pablo Picasso

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

“What is a face, really? Its own photo? It’s make-up? Or is it a face as painted by such or such painter? That which is in front? Inside? Behind? And the rest? Doesn’t everyone look at himself in his own particular way? Deformations simply do not exist.” – Pablo Picasso

“What might be taken for a precocious genius is the genius of childhood. When the child grows up, it disappears without a trace. It may happen that this boy will become a real painter someday or even a great painter. But then he will have to begin everything again, from zero.” – Pablo Picasso

“Is there anything more dangerous than sympathetic understanding?” –Pablo Picasso

“There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward, you can remove all traces of reality.” – Pablo Picasso

“We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth, at least the truth that is given to us to understand.” – Pablo Picasso

“Work is a necessity for man. Man invented the alarm clock.” – Pablo Picasso

“God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant, and the cat. He has no real style, He just goes on trying other things.” – Pablo Picasso

“Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working.” – Pablo Picasso

“Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.” – Pablo Picasso

“We must not discriminate between things. Where things are concerned there are no class distinctions. We must pick out what is good for us where we can find it.” – Pablo Picasso

“You have to have an idea of what you are going to do, but it should be a vague idea.” – Pablo Picasso

“They ought to put out the eyes of painters as they do goldfinches in order that they can sing better.” – Pablo Picasso

“The more technique you have, the less you have to worry about it. The more technique there is, the less there is.” – Pablo Picasso

“To make oneself hated is more difficult than to make oneself loved.” – Pablo Picasso

“There are only two types of women – goddesses and doormats.” – Pablo Picasso

The world is so lucky as we have so many great quotes by Pablo Picasso. Even today these quotes can be used to inspire artists everywhere.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Related Content

Why Was Impressionism Art at First Rejected?

During the emergence of impressionism art, fine art oil painting was an extremely important addition to the interior design of a home, especially for the affluent and the increasing arrival of the middle classes. For these art patrons,  there were only some very specific styles of art that were considered acceptable for them to use for the interior design of their home, and impressionism art did not fit into any of these culturally acceptable fine art categories.

To discover more you can read our blog Why Was Impressionism Art at First Rejected? by clicking here,

What Are The Characteristics Of The Arts And Crafts Movement?

The Arts and Crafts movement started in Britain and then swept over Europe and the United States. The movement started to become both popular and very influential in the late 19th century and changed the way may artists around the world viewed their art. It also changed the way that artists saw the design of not just their artwork, but also buildings, fabrics, wallpaper, parks, cities and objects in their homes and offices.

To learn more read our blog on What Are The Characteristics Of The Arts And Crafts Movement? by clicking here.