You could think of extraordinary examples to the contrary: The Grapes of Wrath... and even into the 70s.

The Grapes of Wrath,

To the world, you are America.

You can spend a lifetime, and, if you're honest with yourself, never once was your work perfect.

You cut their money back, for one thing... I go back a long way with the NEA.

And their pals vote for their stuff when they're not on the panel, and it just keeps going that way. And they tend to be very fringe artists, so anything before the 20th century is not worth considering. This is out of date.