Pablo Picasso was a Spanish artist and the co-founder of Cubism. He worked as a painter, sculptor, printmaker, and ceramicist, and is among the most influential artists of the 20th century.Beyond art and sculpture, Picasso also spoke words of wisdom that remain relevant today.He once weighed in on a profound everyday thought that we like to imagine that progress comes from a grand plan, a perfect strategy, or a ten-year goal. But anyone who has made anything, whether a painting, a business, a song, or a career, knows it rarely works that way. In fact, sometimes even one piece of work that comes as a result surprises us. It feels a little different from everything before that went into creating it, be it the planning, blueprint, and it gives us new confidence, a new question, or a direction we had not noticed.That quiet moment of surprise is what Picasso explains in his quote.Let’s read further to know more.
Quote of the day
Every now and then one paints a picture that seems to have opened a door and serves as a stepping stone to other things
Pablo Picasso
What does the quote mean?
Picasso says that most paintings are just paintings, but then there are some that do more than just that. It shows the painter a new way of seeing, a new technique or a new subject, like a “stepping stone”; it is not the destination, but only helps you reach the next thing, and that thing leads to another.This is quite associated with Picasso’s progress through his life. He moved through very different styles, and Cubism changed how people thought about painting.Picasso opened door after door and made something new of what he found behind each one. He said a picture is not planned and settled in advance and you discover the next step by painting, not by planning.The quote is attributed to Pablo Picasso by Goodreads, but Picasso spoke Spanish and French, so many of his English “quotes” are translations of interviews and conversations, and the wording often changes along the way, but his idea behind it and basis pf paintings has hardly aged.
How are his words relevant today?
We live in a world that pushes us to chase big, perfect outcomes, but Picasso advises to keep trying things, because one of them will eventually surprise you, be it a student trying a new subject, a developer building a side project, or a writer who posts a rough draft. Many careers and businesses began with one small project that “worked” a little better than expected.
