Paintings are unique the way people are unique. Each one is different but there are a LOT of them.
Some are objectively in another league, but 99% of it can be swapped out for something that appeals to you more personally.
Memes don't make a Rembrandt valuable, but equally the Rembrandt name matters more than the picture. So more "branding" than meme.
I subscribe to the notion that if it takes an expert to tell the difference between a fake or real Rembrandt, then (value aside) you have a Rembrandt. Or Rembrandt-quality painting.
Agreed, but it's worth examining how branding is itself memetic. Why is Rembrandt associated with value? Because of a perpetuating idea that Rembrandt was highly skilled, and thus his paintings are higher quality. But why do we say that Rembrandt was highly skilled? Because of a perpetuating idea that tells us what skill at classical painting should look like, and then a perpetuating idea that tells us that Rembrandt was an exemplar of that artificially-defined category.
It seems more likely that Rembrandt defied some of the standard art style at the time and is remembered for his innovation. For example, his paintings look quite realistic but tend to exhibit unusually dramatic lighting. Perhaps nobody did that before him, or not with the same quality, or only in a small number of artworks.
Some are objectively in another league, but 99% of it can be swapped out for something that appeals to you more personally.
Memes don't make a Rembrandt valuable, but equally the Rembrandt name matters more than the picture. So more "branding" than meme.
I subscribe to the notion that if it takes an expert to tell the difference between a fake or real Rembrandt, then (value aside) you have a Rembrandt. Or Rembrandt-quality painting.