The Great Lessons of Pablo Picasso

It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.

Pablo Picasso

The lifetime work of this great man may seem very puzzling to any person studying his life or any artist looking at his style. Picasso was a prodigy in this creative field, who could draw and paint as good as the masters (Raphael, Da Vinci, Rembrandt etc.) at a very young age. To some people this meant Picasso had reached the peak of his artistic talent and powers. Some do not quite understand why he went against this academic-ism.

It is true by fact that no man or machine can yet perfectly imitate reality (photos are 1 dimensional so they do not perfectly imitate reality), so then why is there this tendency to attempt the impossible. Sometimes it is a show of great skill to produce works of fine detail but a great work of art contains ingenuity and character. Leave modelling and mimicking reality to the scientists.  

Picasso in his later works used prevailing ideas in art and mixed them around and played with them, he produced new ideas in art such as Cubism (with Georges Braque). Pablo broke barriers and surprised the world. 

The quote above contains one great lesson which I have learnt from it: Do not copy what your elders did put    become a child, that is, become extremely playful and curious. This will lead you to wonderful places.

As a student of physics this is a great lesson...  always stay curious about the world around you and as Isaac Newton said 'stand on the shoulders of giants' but don't just sit there... go to new heights.

Pablo was full of confidence and would love to publicly show his zeal and talents. I think confidence in any intellectual is very important but not necessary for a great intellectual. To be open with the public and to discuss ideas, views and even some misguided opinions helps one to improve their view of the world and creates debate within the public.

This man was very original and productive and is an inspiration to us all. I personally think that art is a therapy for the creative functions for ones brain and not a gateway to truth of any sort, for truth takes the form of logical certainty or empirical approximation which of course can only be expressed in language (mathematical and lingual). 

Here is a video showing Picasso as a productive, happy and confident young artist who pushed the conceptual and practical limits of his field. The music is also very catchy!