Through out history people have decried art is dead. While there is certainly a lot that I don't appreciate I do feel that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There is still a lot of great stuff that is being done. I am surprised that you did not mention people like Mapplethorpe. There were many who asked how a cross dipped in urine could be art.
It does amaze me what people will pay for and what they won't.
Thank you for comment, @iamwne and your interest to the art. I didnt mentioned Mapplethorpe and "artists" similar to him for the same reason as I didnt write about great fraud with "Sunset over the Adriatic", wrote by
nonexistent Boronali. The reason is in the aim of this article. It is to find an answer when the world started to appreciate ...em...something other than real art. So my first part is about modern tendency in general. But the second will be about reasons and history.