Born in Malaga, Spain, Picasso’s many styles and prolific work rate have marked him out as one of the most recognised artists of the twentieth century. Not limited to one medium he created sculptures, etchings and prints. His artistic career only began to boom once he moved to Paris in the early 1900s. His Blue Period, reflecting the colour and his mood at the time was followed by his Rose Period, work inspired by primitive art and then Cubism, which shocked the critics, but ultimately made his name.
Guernica (1937) was created during Picasso’s Surrealist period and captures the horror of the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. By the end of World War II, Picasso had become an internationally known artist and celebrity.
More information on Artsy’s Pablo Picasso page
It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.
Let them understand above all that the artist works from necessity.
Love is the greatest refreshment in life.
One should ascribe no more importance [to art] than so many things in nature which charm us but which we do not explain.
Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.
Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.
Painting is stronger than me, it makes me do its bidding.
People need to be woken up – their way of identifying things, shattered.
Reality is more than the thing itself.
The artist works in the here and now.
The chief enemy of creativity is good sense.
The only thing emanating from my pictures should be emotion.
The path to youth takes a whole life.
Those who attempt to explain a picture are on the wrong track most of the time.
To finish a work? To finish a picture? What nonsense! To finish it means to be through with it.
We all know that art is not the truth, art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.
We don’t grow older, we grow riper.
When it comes right down to it, all you have is your self. Your self is a sun with a thousand rays.
Why should I blame anyone but myself if I cannot understand what I know nothing about?
Without great solitude, no serious work is possible.
You cannot go against nature. She is stronger than the strongest of men.
You mustn’t always believe what I say. Questions tempt you to tell lies.
Youth has no age.