45 Pablo Picasso Quotes on Art, Creativity, Success, and Life

Born to a painter and art teacher, Pablo Picasso was an art prodigy. Pablo Picasso’s innovative work transformed the field of art in the 20th century making him the greatest painter and artist of his era. His pioneering style of painting makes him one of the most renowned and celebrated artists in the world.

An artist by birth, Pablo Picasso’s first words were “Piz Piz,” a baby version of the Spanish word lápiz’ meaning pencil. The Spanish painter formally began his artwork at the young age of 7 when his father taught him the basics of oil painting and figure drawing. As Picasso’s love for art grew, he became obsessed with drawing and forgetting his formal studies. Finding the conventional mode of study stifling, Picasso chose to spend most of his time roaming around the city and drawing the scenic views.

Pablo Picasso’s artwork is categorized into three periods; Blue Period (1901 to 1904) and Cubism (1909 to 1912) and Crystal Cubism (1912 to 1919). The blue period mostly comprises of gloomy paintings with the blue color in dominance while other colors are occasionally penetrated. From 1909 to 1912, Pablo Picasso worked together with Georges Braque and co-founded the cubism movement. Crystal Cubism was later emerged from 1912 to 1919, mostly featuring Pablo Picasso’s hard-edged square-cut diamonds.

The 20th-century artist’s work was not confined to painting only. Pablo Picasso also invented constructed sculpture. He was responsible for the co-invention of collage co-creator of Cubism or the Cubist movement and a variety of other innovative styles. Pablo Picasso’s artistic portfolio includes the titles of painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, poet, and playwright.

Despite having such a high profile for his artwork, Pablo Picasso is said to be having involved in messy love affairs with younger women. Olga Khokhlova, a ballerina, was the earliest love interest of Pablo Picasso whom he married. He was also involved with a young art student Françoise Gilot, who birthed two of his children. It was Jacqueline Roque, Pablo Picasso’s second wife, who remained with him till his death.

Although Pablo Picasso is mostly celebrated as the most influential and innovative painter, his wisdom and work in the field of literature cannot be denied. In this article we have compiled the best of Pablo Picasso quotes on art, love, faith, religion, and happiness.

Table of Contents

17 Pablo Picasso Quotes on Art and Creativity

Art is a way of expression, adding meaning, colors, and diversity to life. The pioneer artist Pablo Picasso’s quotes on art are full of wisdom and inspiration for young artists. Here are 17 of the best Pablo Picasso quotes on art and creativity.

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”
The chief enemy of creativity is ‘good’ sense.”
The world today doesn’t make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do?”
It is your work in life that is the ultimate seduction.”
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.”
Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.”
“Everything you can imagine is real.”
“Art is the elimination of the unnecessary.”
“All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
“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.”
“Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions.”
“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”
“There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.”
“I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them.”
“Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth”
“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.”
“To draw you must close your eyes and sing.”

28 Pablo Picasso quotes on success and life

The right kind of inspiration and motivation to try new ideas and defy the societal norms of following old trends is very important to become successful and make a name that will last year after your death, just like Pablo Picasso. Here are 28 of Pablo Picasso’s sassy quotes on life and success.

“It takes a long time to become young.”
“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.”
“The older you get the stronger the wind gets – and it’s always in your face.”
“Give me a museum and I’ll fill it.”
“Action is the foundational key to all success.”
“An idea is a point of departure and no more. As soon as you elaborate it, it becomes transformed by thought.”
“Everything is a miracle. It is a miracle that one does not dissolve in one’s bath like a lump of sugar.”
“He can who thinks he can, and he can’t who thinks he can’t. This is an inexorable, indisputable law.”
“I don’t believe in accidents. There are only encounters in history. There are no accidents. ”
“Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.”
“I do not seek. I find.”
“Every positive value has its price in negative terms… the genius of Einstein leads to Hiroshima.”
“Youth has no age.”
“Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.”
“Love is the greatest refreshment in life.”
“I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else.”
“I’d like to live as a poor man with lots of money.”
“It is your work in life that is the ultimate seduction.”
“The hidden harmony is better than the obvious.”
“We don’t grow older, we grow riper.”
“You mustn’t always believe what I say. Questions tempt you to tell lies, particularly when there is no answer.”
“There are only two types of women – goddesses and doormats.”
“It is your work in life that is the ultimate seduction.”
“The chief enemy of creativity is ‘good’ sense.”
“Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.”
“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 end up as the Pope.’ Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.”
“To make oneself hated is more difficult than to make oneself loved.”
“Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.”