I mean, in Rembrandt's time, painters painted on commission and their paintings weren't nearly as valuable as they are today. Back then, what they we're doing was pretty much craft, not art per-se.
Of course, not all painters from Rembrandt time became huge sellers in the future...
I'm curious if this type of art is similar to journalism where the market dynamics have changed. Art is still very popular of course but to get the genius 1% you need a wide swatch of artists and I'd imagine this used to be a far more popular painting in Europe back when the classic painters were dominating.
Not so sure there is room for artistic expression when you are mass producing copies and are paid for the copying process and not creativity.