--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But when I am alone, I do not have the…" description: "\"But when I am alone, I do not have the effrontery to consider myself an artist at all, not in the grand old meaning of the word: Giotto, Titian, Rembra..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf6/pablo-picasso-552_art_but-when-i-am-alone-i-do-not-have-the-ef_667937.jpg" --- # But when I am alone, I do not have the effrontery to… ![“But when I am alone, I do not have the effrontery to consider myself an artist at all, not in the grand old meaning of the word: Giotto, Titian, Rembrandt, Goya were great painters. I am only a public clown-a mountebank. I have understood my time and have exploited the imbecility, the vanity, the…” quote by Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf6/pablo-picasso-552_art_but-when-i-am-alone-i-do-not-have-the-ef_667937.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf6/pablo-picasso-552_art_but-when-i-am-alone-i-do-not-have-the-ef_667937.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf6/pablo-picasso-552_art_but-when-i-am-alone-i-do-not-have-the-ef_667937.jpg) > “But when I am alone, I do not have the effrontery to consider myself an artist at all, not in the grand old meaning of the word: Giotto, Titian, Rembrandt, Goya were great painters. I am only a public clown-a mountebank. I have understood my time and have exploited the imbecility, the vanity, the greed of my contemporaries. It is a bitter confession, this confession of mine, more painful than it may seem. But at least and at last it does have the merit of being honest.” [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. He admits feeling unworthy of classical greatness, yet sees value in exposing society's flaws through satire. **In simple terms:** He feels like a satirist, not a master painter. Key Takeaway Embrace honest self‑assessment. Themes humility art satire honesty Mood reflective critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - gallery exhibitions - public performances - social commentary - teaching art - writing memoirs Key Concepts psychology art history social critique Questions to Reflect On - What does honesty reveal about your creative limits? - How can satire drive social change? A Different Perspective Self‑deprecation may limit confidence in one's abilities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Being honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-honest/) [Clown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clown/) [Confession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confession/) [Giotto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giotto/) [Goya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goya/) [Greed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greed/) [Honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honest/) [Imbecility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imbecility/) [Investing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investing/) [Painter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painter/) [Vanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vanity/) ## Related quotes > [Titian, Rembrandt and Goya were the great painters. I am only a public clown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/titian-rembrandt-and-goya-were-the-great-painters-i-am-only-a-public/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Today, as you know, I am famous and very rich. But when I am alone with myself, I haven't the 'courage' to consider myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/today-as-you-know-i-am-famous-and-very-rich-but-when-i-am-alone-with/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [The traveller who has gone to Italy to study the tactile values of Giotto, or the corruption of the Papacy, may return remembering nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/the-traveller-who-has-gone-to-italy-to-study-the-tactile-values-of/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [When I was taking art history I was always angry that we would skip certain chapters because "it wasn't important." Like, "Let's skip over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-banisadr/when-i-was-taking-art-history-i-was-always-angry-that-we-would-skip/) [Ali Banisadr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-banisadr/) > [Now that I think about it, it seems to me that’s what Idiocy is: the ability to be enthusiastic all the time about anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/now-that-i-think-about-it-it-seems-to-me-that-s-what-idiocy-is-the/) [Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [Whenever I give a talk about my work I am invariably asked who my influences are. Not what my influences are, but who.. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gober/whenever-i-give-a-talk-about-my-work-i-am-invariably-asked-who-my/) [Robert Gober](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gober/) > [The Oresteia, King Lear, Dostoevsky's The Devils no less than the art of Giotto or the Passions of Bach, inquire into, dramatize, the relations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-oresteia-king-lear-dostoevsky-s-the-devils-no-less-than-the-art/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [In my opinion painters owe to Giotto, the Florentine painter, exactly the same debt they owe to nature, which constantly serves them as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorgio-vasari/in-my-opinion-painters-owe-to-giotto-the-florentine-painter-exactly/) [Giorgio Vasari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgio-vasari/) > [When I arrived at Roma, someone defined me as Giotto, 'The Painter,' but the nickname I prefer is the one I got from Captain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miralem-pjanic/when-i-arrived-at-roma-someone-defined-me-as-giotto-the-painter-but/) [Miralem Pjanic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miralem-pjanic/) > [To an art historian a Giotto is a 14th Century painting. To an artist it was painted yesterday. We free ourselves from the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-darby-bannard/to-an-art-historian-a-giotto-is-a-14th-century-painting-to-an-artist/) [Walter Darby Bannard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-darby-bannard/) > [It is not possible to overstate the influence of Paul Cezanne on twentieth-century art. He's the modern Giotto, someone who shattered one kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/it-is-not-possible-to-overstate-the-influence-of-paul-cezanne-on/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [“I painlessly came to realize that the reverence I felt for the holiness of life is not ever likely to be entirely at home…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/i-painlessly-came-to-realize-that-the-reverence-i-felt-for-the/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [We are the two great painters of this era; you are in the Egyptian style, I in themodern style. (to Pablo Picasso)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-rousseau/we-are-the-two-great-painters-of-this-era-you-are-in-the-egyptian/) [Henri Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-rousseau/) > [I like the fact that in ancient Chinese art the great painters always included a deliberate flaw in their work: human creation is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/i-like-the-fact-that-in-ancient-chinese-art-the-great-painters-always/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [At the beginning of the 20th century, the ambition of the great painters was to make paintings that were like music, which was then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/at-the-beginning-of-the-20th-century-the-ambition-of-the-great/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) ## 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 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. 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 only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [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/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But when I am alone, I do not have the effrontery to consider myself an artist at all, not in the grand old meaning of the word: Giotto, Titian, Rembrandt, Goya were great painters. 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