You hit on the greatest point. It is in the eye of the beholder and also the time of the season. Meaning, if it is timely and others glom onto spreading it into the global circuit for whatever reason? It is a sure-fire hit.
Vincent was trained for a long while in the Dutch Master tradition. Then he expanded on the idea and he has a style not to be measured by anyone because it transcends everything. He made it cool to be schizophrenic.
Not really. He suffered for his sanity and was not even acknowledged as a great until way after his death. He is smiling down on all of us now and he may be back on earth, who knows?
You cannot know by yourself if all the messages, dreams an opinions you put into it will be visible to other people. You need a critic to tell you that.
Benedict Arnold 