--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Cubism is an anatomical chart of a way of…" description: "\"Cubism is an anatomical chart of a way of seeing external objects. But I want to confuse the meaning of the act of looking.\" — Jasper Johns" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df7/jasper-johns-8447_artist_cubism-is-an-anatomical-chart-of-a-way-o_2405091.jpg" --- # Cubism is an anatomical chart of a way of seeing external… ![“Cubism is an anatomical chart of a way of seeing external objects. But I want to confuse the meaning of the act of looking.” quote by Jasper Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df7/jasper-johns-8447_artist_cubism-is-an-anatomical-chart-of-a-way-o_2405091.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df7/jasper-johns-8447_artist_cubism-is-an-anatomical-chart-of-a-way-o_2405091.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df7/jasper-johns-8447_artist_cubism-is-an-anatomical-chart-of-a-way-o_2405091.jpg) > “Cubism is an anatomical chart of a way of seeing external objects. But I want to confuse the meaning of the act of looking.” [Jasper Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-johns/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Cubism reframes perception by dissecting objects into multiple viewpoints, challenging conventional sight. **In simple terms:** Cubism changes how we see things. Key Takeaway Embrace multiple perspectives. Themes art perception innovation Mood thoughtful provocative Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - gallery curation - art education - design thinking - visual analysis Key Concepts cubist theory visual deconstruction Questions to Reflect On - How does breaking forms alter meaning? - What does “confusing the act of looking” achieve? A Different Perspective May confuse viewers unfamiliar with abstract forms. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Cubism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cubism/) [Cubism Anatomical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cubism-anatomical-6036036/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Looking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looking/) [Objects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objects/) [Seeing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing/) [Seeing External](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing-external-6036037/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [In the early days the Cubism' method of grasping an object was to go round and round it. The Futurists declared that one had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gino-severini/in-the-early-days-the-cubism-method-of-grasping-an-object-was-to-go/) [Gino Severini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gino-severini/) > [When we discovered cubism, we did not have the aim of discovering cubism. We only wanted to express what was in us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/when-we-discovered-cubism-we-did-not-have-the-aim-of-discovering/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [The activities of these parasites and degenerates gave rise to Cubism, Fauvism, Futurism, Pointillism, Constructivism, Orphism, Surrealism, Dada, and also Impossibleism, Supersurrealism, Dynamic Double-Dog…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinkwater/the-activities-of-these-parasites-and-degenerates-gave-rise-to-cubism/) [Daniel Pinkwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinkwater/) > [Cubism is like standing at a certain point on a mountain and looking around. If you go higher, things will look different; if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lipchitz/cubism-is-like-standing-at-a-certain-point-on-a-mountain-and-looking/) [Jacques Lipchitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lipchitz/) > [No academy could have given me all I discovered by getting my teeth into the exhibitions, the shop windows, and the museums of Paris…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-chagall/no-academy-could-have-given-me-all-i-discovered-by-getting-my-teeth/) [Marc Chagall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-chagall/) > [Raising a child is a little like Picasso's work; in the beginning he did very conventional representational things. Cubism came after he had the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/raising-a-child-is-a-little-like-picasso-s-work-in-the-beginning-he/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [What greatly attracted me - and it was the main line of advance of Cubism - was how to give material expression to this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-braque/what-greatly-attracted-me-and-it-was-the-main-line-of-advance-of/) [Georges Braque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-braque/) > [Futurism and Cubism are comparable in importance to the invention of perspective, for which they substituted a new concept of space. All subsequent movements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gino-severini/futurism-and-cubism-are-comparable-in-importance-to-the-invention-of/) [Gino Severini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gino-severini/) > [Maybe Cubism started this way. Memory re-arranging a face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-rakow/maybe-cubism-started-this-way-memory-re-arranging-a-face/) [Mary Rakow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-rakow/) > [Cubism was an attack on the perspective that had been known and used for 500 years. It was the first big, big change. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/cubism-was-an-attack-on-the-perspective-that-had-been-known-and-used/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [Cubism is the art of depicting new wholes with formal elements borrowed not only from the reality of vision, but from that of conception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillaume-apollinaire/cubism-is-the-art-of-depicting-new-wholes-with-formal-elements/) [Guillaume Apollinaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillaume-apollinaire/) > [The fact that for a long time Cubism has not been understood and that even today there are people who cannot see anything in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/the-fact-that-for-a-long-time-cubism-has-not-been-understood-and-that/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Most people don't do something seminal. I've done it twice: with my tent and my bed. Picasso did it with Cubism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracey-emin/most-people-don-t-do-something-seminal-i-ve-done-it-twice-with-my/) [Tracey Emin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracey-emin/) > [The goal I proposed myself in making cubism? To paint and nothing more... with a method linked only to my thought... Neither the good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/the-goal-i-proposed-myself-in-making-cubism-to-paint-and-nothing-more/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Until cubism, all art, all pictures, could be 'read' by anybody. If this hadn't been so, the Christian message wouldn't have been seen by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/until-cubism-all-art-all-pictures-could-be-read-by-anybody-if-this/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) ## More by Jasper Johns > [Early on I was very involved with the notion of the painting as an object and tended to attack that idea from different directions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/early-on-i-was-very-involved-with-the-notion-of-the-painting-as-an/) [Jasper Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-johns/) > [Make something, a kind of object, which as it changes or falls apart (dies as it were) or increases in its parts (grows as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/make-something-a-kind-of-object-which-as-it-changes-or-falls-apart/) [Jasper Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-johns/) > [In my early work, I tried to hide my personality, my psychological state, my emotions. This was partly due to my feelings about myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/in-my-early-work-i-tried-to-hide-my-personality-my-psychological/) [Jasper Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-johns/) > [I have no ideas about what the paintings imply about the world. I don't think that's a painter's business. He just paints paintings without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/i-have-no-ideas-about-what-the-paintings-imply-about-the-world-i-don/) [Jasper Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-johns/) > [I have meant what I have done. Or I have often meant what I have done. Or I have sometimes meant what I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/i-have-meant-what-i-have-done-or-i-have-often-meant-what-i-have-done/) [Jasper Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-johns/) > [Art as a fantasy has been one of my earliest experiences. I suppose a lot of my childhood was a fantasy that involved getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/art-as-a-fantasy-has-been-one-of-my-earliest-experiences-i-suppose-a/) [Jasper Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-johns/) > [I was raised in South Carolina; I wasn't aware of any art in South Carolina. There was a minor museum in Charleston, which had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/i-was-raised-in-south-carolina-i-wasn-t-aware-of-any-art-in-south/) [Jasper Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-johns/) > [Sometime during the mid-50s I said, 'I am an artist.' Before that, for many years, I had said, 'I'm going to be an artist.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/sometime-during-the-mid-50s-i-said-i-am-an-artist-before-that-for/) [Jasper Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-johns/) > [That's what painting does; it organizes vision in a certain way or suggests that certain things be paid attention to and certain other things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/that-s-what-painting-does-it-organizes-vision-in-a-certain-way-or/) [Jasper Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-johns/) > [I assumed that everything would lead to complete failure, but I decided that didn't matter – that would be my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/i-assumed-that-everything-would-lead-to-complete-failure-but-i/) [Jasper Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-johns/) > [I tend to like things that already exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/i-tend-to-like-things-that-already-exist/) [Jasper Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-johns/) > [Bend color names which should be made of neon or copper tubing. Place an object on a surface - trace the object - then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/bend-color-names-which-should-be-made-of-neon-or-copper-tubing-place/) [Jasper Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-johns/) > [My experience with life is that it's very fragmented. In one place certain kinds of thing occur, and in another place a different kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/my-experience-with-life-is-that-it-s-very-fragmented-in-one-place/) [Jasper Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-johns/) > [I never wish for critics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/i-never-wish-for-critics/) [Jasper Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-johns/) > [Art is either a complaint or appeasement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/art-is-either-a-complaint-or-appeasement/) [Jasper Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-johns/) [Explore all 80 Jasper Johns quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-johns/) ## More Artist quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“People in coats and ties were milling around the Talley gallery, and on the wall were the minimally rendered still lifes by Giorgio Morandi,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/people-in-coats-and-ties-were-milling-around-the-talley-gallery-and/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [“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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [From as long as I can remember, I was always fond of drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-lucia/from-as-long-as-i-can-remember-i-was-always-fond-of-drawing/) [St. Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-lucia/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Designers shouldn’t design for museums any more than mummies should die for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-caplan/designers-shouldn-t-design-for-museums-any-more-than-mummies-should/) [Ralph Caplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-caplan/) > [I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. Who has the authority to say someone is better?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-don-t-believe-in-competitions-between-artists-this-is-insane-who/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) > [I am a horrible visual artist. I can't fix a car, sew, knit, cook, etc. Statistically, there is more I don't do than do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-am-a-horrible-visual-artist-i-can-t-fix-a-car-sew-knit-cook-etc/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) [Browse all 32,600 Artist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Cubism is an anatomical chart of a way of seeing external objects. But I want to confuse the meaning of the act of looking.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jasper Johns" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/cubism-is-an-anatomical-chart-of-a-way-of-seeing-external-objects-but/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Artist" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/cubism-is-an-anatomical-chart-of-a-way-of-seeing-external-objects-but/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df7/jasper-johns-8447_artist_cubism-is-an-anatomical-chart-of-a-way-o_2405091.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df7/jasper-johns-8447_artist_cubism-is-an-anatomical-chart-of-a-way-o_2405091.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df7/jasper-johns-8447_artist_cubism-is-an-anatomical-chart-of-a-way-o_2405091.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Cubism is an anatomical chart of a way of seeing external objects. But I want to confuse the meaning of the…” — Jasper Johns", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jasper Johns", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-johns/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Cubism is an anatomical chart of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/cubism-is-an-anatomical-chart-of-a-way-of-seeing-external-objects-but/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-johns/cubism-is-an-anatomical-chart-of-a-way-of-seeing-external-objects-but/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```