--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I once had the nerve to ask Picasso the…" description: "\"I once had the nerve to ask Picasso the question, 'What is art?' He answered, 'Art is a lie which makes us see the truth.\" — James Dickey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/389/james-dickey-11461_art_i-once-had-the-nerve-to-ask-picasso-the_13771.jpg" --- # I once had the nerve to ask Picasso the question, 'What is… ![“I once had the nerve to ask Picasso the question, 'What is art?' He answered, 'Art is a lie which makes us see the truth.” quote by James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/389/james-dickey-11461_art_i-once-had-the-nerve-to-ask-picasso-the_13771.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/389/james-dickey-11461_art_i-once-had-the-nerve-to-ask-picasso-the_13771.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/389/james-dickey-11461_art_i-once-had-the-nerve-to-ask-picasso-the_13771.jpg) > “I once had the nerve to ask Picasso the question, 'What is art?' He answered, 'Art is a lie which makes us see the truth.” [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art is a deliberate illusion that reveals deeper reality, showing that perception can be shaped to uncover truths hidden beneath surface appearances. **In simple terms:** Art as illusion reveals truth. Key Takeaway Illusion can expose reality. Themes perception truth illusion creativity philosophy Mood thoughtful inquisitive reflective Type aphorism philosophical quote When to use this quote - art criticism - museum curation - creative education - philosophical debate - visual storytelling Key Concepts subjectivity interpretation aesthetic theory Practical Applications - teaching art theory - designing immersive experiences Questions to Reflect On - How does deception function in creative expression? - When does an illusion become a truth? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Nerves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nerves/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [The question of art songs always came up with Gastr del Sol. 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It keeps the question of art before the world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/criticism-talks-a-good-deal-of-nonsense-but-even-its-nonsense-is-a/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [I never went into aesthetics. Aesthetics is what philosophers have to say about art, and a lot of them take an analytics position and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-ihde/i-never-went-into-aesthetics-aesthetics-is-what-philosophers-have-to/) [Don Ihde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-ihde/) > [“I was aware of doing only a so-so job on the grown-up career front, but I didn't really care, because there were two big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/i-was-aware-of-doing-only-a-so-so-job-on-the-grown-up-career-front/) [Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/) > [Can art change the world? Maybe ... we should change the question: Can art change people's lives?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jr/can-art-change-the-world-maybe-we-should-change-the-question-can-art/) JR > [My question about my art and my music has always been, 'Am I good, or am I good because?' I'm not the artist who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-naan/my-question-about-my-art-and-my-music-has-always-been-am-i-good-or-am/) [K'naan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-naan/) > [Nerves are always a big problem for me, which is why I loved doing American sitcoms. Because you know when you do the take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cleese/nerves-are-always-a-big-problem-for-me-which-is-why-i-loved-doing/) [John Cleese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cleese/) > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. Now I am living on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/sure-i-m-dramatic-and-sloppily-semi-cynical-and-semi-sentimental-but/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I want you to take a red-hot bath as hot as you can bear it, and just relax your nerves. You can read in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/i-want-you-to-take-a-red-hot-bath-as-hot-as-you-can-bear-it-and-just/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [Somebody's going to hear a song that will key in a nerve or something in their experience that represents their own vision. And the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-morrison/somebody-s-going-to-hear-a-song-that-will-key-in-a-nerve-or-something/) [Van Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-morrison/) > [Words are substance strange. Speak one and the air ripples into another's ears. Write one and the eye laps it up. But the sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-beachy-quick/words-are-substance-strange-speak-one-and-the-air-ripples-into/) [Dan Beachy-Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-beachy-quick/) > [The Germans are the most philosophic people in the world, and the greatest smokers: now I trace their philosophy to their smoking. Smoking has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-borrow/the-germans-are-the-most-philosophic-people-in-the-world-and-the/) [George Henry Borrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-borrow/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) ## More by James Dickey > [What I want is to be willing to fail rather than stagnate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/what-i-want-is-to-be-willing-to-fail-rather-than-stagnate/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [The true feeling of sex is that of a deep intimacy, but above all of a deep complicity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/the-true-feeling-of-sex-is-that-of-a-deep-intimacy-but-above-all-of-a/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [“If I were going to tell one of my sons how to possess the world, I would simply bring him into my house, show…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/if-i-were-going-to-tell-one-of-my-sons-how-to-possess-the-world-i/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [What a view, i said again. The river was blank and mindless with beauty. It was the most glorious thing I have ever seen.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/what-a-view-i-said-again-the-river-was-blank-and-mindless-with-beauty/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [The body is the one thing you can't fake; it's just got to be there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/the-body-is-the-one-thing-you-can-t-fake-it-s-just-got-to-be-there/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [I want a fever, in poetry: a fever, and tranquillity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/i-want-a-fever-in-poetry-a-fever-and-tranquillity/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [I do think the author ought to be able to give a good reason for the way things are in his poem. Not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/i-do-think-the-author-ought-to-be-able-to-give-a-good-reason-for-the/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [You are bound, my hunch is, to make it just fine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/you-are-bound-my-hunch-is-to-make-it-just-fine/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [Find something only you can say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/find-something-only-you-can-say/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [I think Ginsberg has done more harm to the craft that I honor and live by than anybody else by reducing it to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/i-think-ginsberg-has-done-more-harm-to-the-craft-that-i-honor-and/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [I don’t believe that a reviewer or a critic can really criticize well unless he can praise well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/i-don-t-believe-that-a-reviewer-or-a-critic-can-really-criticize-well/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [We've always had a tradition in America of hounding our artists to death. Look at the list of our great artists, you see a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/we-ve-always-had-a-tradition-in-america-of-hounding-our-artists-to/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [A poet trains himself to stand out in a storm and be struck by lightning. If he is lucky enough to be struck six…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/a-poet-trains-himself-to-stand-out-in-a-storm-and-be-struck-by/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [Flight is the only truly new sensation than men have achieved in modern history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/flight-is-the-only-truly-new-sensation-than-men-have-achieved-in/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [She was the Judy Garland of American poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/she-was-the-judy-garland-of-american-poetry/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) [Explore all 59 James Dickey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. 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