My whole life has been nothing more than a continuous struggle against Reaction and the death of art.
Pablo PicassoRead
When you begin a picture you often make some pretty discoveries. You must be on guard against these. Destroy the thing, do it over several times. In each destroying of a beautiful discovery, the artist does not really suppress it, but rather condenses it, makes it more substantial. What comes out in the end is the result of discarded finds. Otherwise you become your own connoisseur.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Creating art involves making mistakes and discarding ideas to find deeper truths.
Pablo Picasso emphasizes the importance of embracing the process of creation in art, where initial discoveries often lead to deeper insights. He encourages artists to be willing to destroy their early beautiful ideas in order to refine and enhance their work, resulting in a more substantial final piece. This iterative process of creation is essential to avoid becoming overly critical of one’s own creations and to foster genuine artistic expression.
Themes
ArtCreationProcessDiscoveryIteration
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about creativity at the art gallery, one could say, 'As Picasso noted, each discarded idea in art leads to more substantial art.'
More from Pablo Picasso
All quotes →Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.
Pablo PicassoRead
In drawing, nothing is better than the first attempt.
Pablo PicassoRead
He can who thinks he can, and he can't who thinks he can't. This is an inexorable, indisputable law.
Pablo PicassoRead
You have to have an idea of what you are going to do, but it should be a vague idea.
Pablo PicassoRead
I paint the way someone bites his fingernails; for me, painting is a bad habit because I don't know nor can I do anything else.
Pablo PicassoRead
Similar quotes
My films, I've tried to put a message into them. It's not about the gore; it's not about the horror element that are in them. It's more about the message, for me. That's what it is, and I'm using this platform to be able to show my feelings of what I think.
George A. RomeroRead
Drawing is the art of taking a line for a walk.
Paul KleeRead
Although you should never mention your premise in the dialogue of your play, the audience must know what the message is. And whatever it is, you must prove it.
Lajos EgriRead
Time gives growth, it gives continuity and it gives change. And in the case of some sculptures, time gives a patina to them.
Andy GoldsworthyRead
Literature is a beautiful way of keeping the imagination alive, of visiting worlds you would never have time to in your day-to-day life. It keeps you abreast of a wider spectrum of human activities.
Abraham VergheseRead
The function of music is to release us from the tyranny of conscious thought.
Thomas BeechamRead