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Here's my two cents worth
Picasso was the greatest artist of the twentieth century. This fact is undeniable. He revolutionized the art world by changing the artist's emphasis from creating art to promoting oneself. I think the evolution of this shift is twofold.
First, in my observation, it is a function of human nature to denigrate and invalidate that which intimidates. I believe the early modern artists were so intimidated by the perfection of the great nineteenth century masters, all they could do was invalidate it. Rather than undergo the vigorous training and effort necessary to surpass these masters, they took the easy way out and promoted their meager efforts as being more valid. After first brainwashing themselves, they set out to convince all others of the validity of their axioms and, as a result, elevated the zen of hype to an art form.
Secondly, the art establishment at the time realized they could sell far more bad paintings (good ones are much rarer) and enthusiastically jumped on the bandwagon. After all, it is money and not aesthetics that runs the art world.
As a result of this modus operandi, the majority of contemporary artists first look for a hook and then convince themselves that their justification has validity. The result is a coining of jargon, such as
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