Pablo Picasso Quotes

“Almost every evening, either I went to [Georges] Braque's studio or Braque came to mine. Each of us had to see what the other had done during the day. We criticized each other's work. A canvas wasn't finished unless both of us felt it was.”

“Whatever the source of emotion that drives me to create, I want to give it a form which has some connection with the visible world, even if it is only to wage war on that world....I want my paintings to be able to defend themselves to resist the invader, just as though there were razor blades on all surfaces so no one could touch them without cutting his hands.”

“I want to create a cat like the real cats I see crossing the streets, not like those you see in houses. They have nothing in common. The cat of the streets has bristling fur. It runs like a fiend, and if it looks at you, you think it is going to jump in your face.”

“When I haven't any blue I use red.”

“We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies.”

“When the individuality of the artist begins to express itself, what the artist gains in the way of liberty he loses in the way of order.”

“In every photographer there was a painter, a true artist, awaiting expression.”

“I don't know in advance what I am going to put on canvas any more than I decide beforehand what colours I am going to use.”

“Anything new, anything worth doing, can't be recognized.”

“To draw you must close your eyes and sing.”

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

“Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing?”

“If everybody is looking for it, then nobody is finding it. If we were cultured, we would not be conscious of lacking culture. We would regard it as something natural and would not make so much fuss about it. And if we knew the real value of this word we would be cultured enough not to give it so much importance.”

“I imitate everyone except myself.”

“What one does is what counts. Not what one had the intention of doing.”

“I have never had time for the idea of searching. Whenever I wanted to express something, I did so without thinking of the past or the future.”

“The genius of Einstein leads to Hiroshima.”

“This idea of art for art's sake is a hoax.”

“To find is the thing.”

“It isn't up to the painter to define the symbols. Otherwise it would be better if he wrote them out in so many words! The public who look at the picture must interpret the symbols as they understand them.”

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

“I like all paintings. I always look at the paintings, good or bad, in barbershops, furniture stores, provincial hotels. I'm like a drinker who needs wine. As long as it is wine, it doesn't matter which wine.”

“Art is the elimination of the unnecessary.”

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

“When you are young and without success, you have only a few friends. Then, later on, when you are rich and famous, you still have a few... if you are lucky.”