The saying, often attributed to Pablo Picasso, "good artists copy, great artists steal," was his witty suggestion that while lesser artists might simply mimic others, truly great artists are adept at taking inspiration from many sources and transforming it into something original and unique. The quote is a metaphor for a process of creative synthesis, where one absorbs influences from various places, combines them, and creates a new, distinct work. 

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A collage is an art technique where different materials, such as paper, photos, and fabric, are cut and arranged before being glued onto a surface. The term comes from the French word "coller," meaning "to glue". Beyond physical art, the concept extends to a work that combines diverse elements, like musical styles or film scenes, to create a new whole. 

Picasso’s aphorism “good artists copy, great artists steal” crystallizes a provocative idea about originality: that influential creators don’t merely imitate visible features of predecessors, they assimilate and transform underlying concepts so thoroughly those sources become indistinguishable.  The phrase compresses several related claims about creativity, appropriation, and artistic lineage and references artists including Braque,  Schwitters, Man Ray, Matisse, Max Ernest, Hannah Hoch and Rauschenberg.

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Subsequently, the exhibition moved to our associate gallery, ROAMING ROOM, In Bruton, Somerset.

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www.roamingroom.com