"There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality"

Pablo Picasso’s assertion that “There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality” challenges the assumption that abstraction is born purely from the imagination, disconnected from the tangible world. It suggests that the roots of artistic expression and even the most avant-garde or non-representational works are grounded in real experiences, objects, or emotions. Picasso insists that the creative process begins with some recognizable subject, even if, as the artwork progresses, the connection to its original inspiration becomes obscured or unrecognizable.

This perspective highlights the importance of observation, memory, and perception in the act of creation. Abstract art is not a random arrangement of shapes or colors without antecedent; rather, it is a transformation, a distillation of forms that originate in reality. The “something” Picasso refers to is the kernel of meaning, the concrete object, feeling, or idea that sparks the initial act of creation. Even the most enigmatic art is, in his eyes, an evolution away from the visible world, not an outright break from it.

By saying one can “remove all traces of reality,” Picasso acknowledges the artist’s capacity, and perhaps their duty, to transcend literal representation. Abstraction becomes a journey, a process of paring down, distorting, and reimagining until the vestiges of the subject are all but invisible. What remains is an essence, the purest expression, carried forward in new forms. This process does not diminish the importance of reality; it elevates the act of transformation as a central component of art.

For Picasso, then, the dialogue between reality and imagination is essential. Art is created not from a void but from engagement with the world. Understanding abstraction in this way deepens appreciation for the skill and intentionality behind works that may, on the surface, seem disconnected from everyday experience. It affirms the universality of inspiration, rooted in a shared reality, no matter how radically it is altered on the canvas.