--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Abstract art is only painting. And what's…" description: "\"Abstract art is only painting. And what's so dramatic about that? There is no abstract art. One must always begin with something. Afterwards one can re..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3e/pablo-picasso-552_abstract_abstract-art-is-only-painting-and-what-s_3050500.jpg" --- # Abstract art is only painting. And what's so dramatic… ![“Abstract art is only painting. And what's so dramatic about that? There is no abstract art. One must always begin with something. Afterwards one can remove all semblance of reality; there is no longer any danger as the idea of the object has left an indelible imprint.” quote by Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3e/pablo-picasso-552_abstract_abstract-art-is-only-painting-and-what-s_3050500.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3e/pablo-picasso-552_abstract_abstract-art-is-only-painting-and-what-s_3050500.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3e/pablo-picasso-552_abstract_abstract-art-is-only-painting-and-what-s_3050500.jpg) > “Abstract art is only painting. And what's so dramatic about that? There is no abstract art. One must always begin with something. Afterwards one can remove all semblance of reality; there is no longer any danger as the idea of the object has left an indelible imprint.” [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Abstract art begins with representation; after stripping reality, the idea remains indelible. **In simple terms:** Abstract starts with real forms. Key Takeaway Begin with concrete before abstracting. Themes creativity abstraction process Mood thoughtful analytical Type inspirational educational When to use this quote - painting - design - visual storytelling Key Concepts artistic methodology conceptual art Questions to Reflect On - Why start with realism? - How does removal affect meaning? A Different Perspective May limit pure abstraction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Abstract art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract-art/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Danger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/danger/) [Dramatic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dramatic/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) ## Related quotes > [For me painting is a dramatic action in the course of which reality finds itself split apart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/for-me-painting-is-a-dramatic-action-in-the-course-of-which-reality/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“You see, for me a painting is a dramatic action in the course of which the reality finds itself split apart. For me, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francoise-gilot/you-see-for-me-a-painting-is-a-dramatic-action-in-the-course-of-which/) [Francoise Gilot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francoise-gilot/) > [People want Art. And they are given it. But the less Art there is in painting the more painting there is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/people-want-art-and-they-are-given-it-but-the-less-art-there-is-in/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/there-is-no-abstract-art-you-must-always-start-with-something-2/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Beginning with audacity is a very great part of the art of painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/beginning-with-audacity-is-a-very-great-part-of-the-art-of-painting/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Painters strike me as having warm uncomplicated friendships and probably more natural generosity than the practitioners of any other art. Perhaps this is because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/painters-strike-me-as-having-warm-uncomplicated-friendships-and/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [Art is not painting,its the skill the way you do](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lara-flores/art-is-not-painting-its-the-skill-the-way-you-do/) [Lara Flores](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lara-flores/) > [Pop Art is not painting because painting must have content and emotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-hartigan/pop-art-is-not-painting-because-painting-must-have-content-and-emotion/) [Grace Hartigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-hartigan/) > [Painting is like breathing to me. It’s what I do all the time. Every day I make art, whether it is painting, writing or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-schnabel/painting-is-like-breathing-to-me-it-s-what-i-do-all-the-time-every/) [Julian Schnabel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-schnabel/) > [Poetry, with all its obscurity, has a more general as well as a more powerful dominion over the passions than the art of painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/poetry-with-all-its-obscurity-has-a-more-general-as-well-as-a-more/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [The thing is that the money issue looms so large in art now. And it has absolutely nothing to do with art. If you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-bradley/the-thing-is-that-the-money-issue-looms-so-large-in-art-now-and-it/) [Joe Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bradley/) > [People think you can get out your canvas and paint any time you have a free moment. You can't. Commercial art and painting are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-alechinsky/people-think-you-can-get-out-your-canvas-and-paint-any-time-you-have/) [Pierre Alechinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-alechinsky/) > [What counts is art. painting, a kind of painting that is quite different from what everyone makes it out to be. But what kind?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-chagall/what-counts-is-art-painting-a-kind-of-painting-that-is-quite/) [Marc Chagall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-chagall/) > [“Art in painting should consist only of the representation of things that are visible and tangible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-courbet/art-in-painting-should-consist-only-of-the-representation-of-things/) [Gustave Courbet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-courbet/) > [Only thanks to Pop Art, my painting has become understandable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/domenico-gnoli/only-thanks-to-pop-art-my-painting-has-become-understandable/) [Domenico Gnoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/domenico-gnoli/) ## More by Pablo Picasso > [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/) > [When I haven't any blue I use red.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/when-i-haven-t-any-blue-i-use-red/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [The Parthenon is really only a farmyard over which someone put a roof; colonades and sculptures were added because there were people in Athens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/the-parthenon-is-really-only-a-farmyard-over-which-someone-put-a-roof/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [By amusing myself with all these games, all this nonsense, all these picture puzzles, I became famous... I am only a public entertainer who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/by-amusing-myself-with-all-these-games-all-this-nonsense-all-these/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [If I paint a hammer and sickle people may think it is a representation of Communism, but for me it is only a hammer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/if-i-paint-a-hammer-and-sickle-people-may-think-it-is-a/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [One never knows what one is going to do. One starts a painting and then it becomes something quite different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/one-never-knows-what-one-is-going-to-do-one-starts-a-painting-and/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Now there is fame! Of all - hunger, misery, the incomprehension by the public - fame is by far the worst. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/now-there-is-fame-of-all-hunger-misery-the-incomprehension-by-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [It takes a long time to become young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/it-takes-a-long-time-to-become-young/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth at least the truth that is given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/we-all-know-that-art-is-not-truth-art-is-a-lie-that-makes-us-realize/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [You see these thick curtains shut out the daylight: artificial light suits me a great deal better; it's absolutely steady, and much more exciting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/you-see-these-thick-curtains-shut-out-the-daylight-artificial-light/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [The best calculation is the absence of calculation. Once you have attained a certain level of recognition, others generally figure that when you do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/the-best-calculation-is-the-absence-of-calculation-once-you-have/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Action is the foundational key to all success. --Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/action-is-the-foundational-key-to-all-success-pablo-picasso/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [The earth doesn't have a housekeeper to do the dusting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/the-earth-doesn-t-have-a-housekeeper-to-do-the-dusting/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant and the cat. He has no real style, He just goes on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/god-is-really-only-another-artist-he-invented-the-giraffe-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/a-baby-will-make-love-stronger-days-shorter-nights-longer-bankroll/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Explore all 477 Pablo Picasso quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) ## More Abstract quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-abstract-of-the-past-but-beauty-is-the-promise-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [A little too abstract, a little too wise, It is time for us to kiss the earth again, It is time to let the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/a-little-too-abstract-a-little-too-wise-it-is-time-for-us-to-kiss-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“Happy is very abstract, you can't touch it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-veal/happy-is-very-abstract-you-can-t-touch-it/) [Julius Veal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-veal/) > [Abstract Expressionism was invented by New York drunks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/abstract-expressionism-was-invented-by-new-york-drunks/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-more-horrible-this-world-as-today-for-instance-the-more-abstract/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Describing comic sensibility is near impossible. It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) Anthony W. Ivins > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. Some or all of these elements move,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-calder/a-mobile-is-an-abstract-sculpture-made-chiefly-out-of-sheet-metal/) [Alexander Calder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-calder/) > [I'm this superphilosophical kind of person. Stuck in a prison of abstract ideas and overpowering emotions, I have this personality that makes it really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuo-kirino/i-m-this-superphilosophical-kind-of-person-stuck-in-a-prison-of/) [Natsuo Kirino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuo-kirino/) > [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [The trouble is that when you read criticisms about the other films that I've made you get the impression that they're all about themes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-haneke/the-trouble-is-that-when-you-read-criticisms-about-the-other-films/) [Michael Haneke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-haneke/) > [Painting is... a richer language than words... Painting operates through signs which are not abstract and incorporeal like words. The signs of painting are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dubuffet/painting-is-a-richer-language-than-words-painting-operates-through/) [Jean Dubuffet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dubuffet/) [Browse all 1,403 Abstract quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Abstract art is only painting. And what's so dramatic about that? There is no abstract art. One must always begin with something. 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