Artists are dead now?

That's what I mean though. The artist in the grand, sweeping 'genuis' verison of the word is replaced by a multiplicity of small artists and people doing creative jobs.

Mega mega artists like Gerhardt, or Koons are becoming BILLIONAIRES based on urban art works and the limited number of mega collectors.

So?

Art or artist?

Have artists ever been alive, or are they simply dying echoes of soon forgotten dreams?

We keep it alive by looking at their art work, study them, talk about them, and enjoy them. Most of us mortals will be forgotten by the next generation.

Amusingly, the Chinese believed that locusts live forever, and in the genetic sense life is potentially immortal. Man's efforts to outlast his body will have startling consequences and some people feel art personifies that effort.

Have they been replaced or are they now swimming in a much larger pool with consumers who can't necessarily distinguish between Bluefin Tuna and carp?

Tesla didn't...

A genius for sure, but not quite within the time frame the OP has presented.