> People capable of liking some paintings or prints or whatever can rarely do so without knowing something about the artist.

Every day thousands of people visit museums and galleries and peruse thousands of artworks by artists they know little about (even famous artists) and form perfectly valid opinions. Sure, it may help to know about the artist to understand the artwork in greater context, but that is by no means a requirement in order to form an opinion about what you see on the surface.

It's also possible to appreciate and have opinions about ancient art, where we have no idea who the artist is.