he actually used surrogates and assembly line techniques.
he would paint a small bit or a stroke on a painting and claim it as his own and charge accordingly.
Hard to fault him too much for that. Famous painters have regularly done that, hence all the "School of X" paintings.
His paintings were definitely emotional and lowbrow. That does not necessarily mean they were bad. I read a piece of serious criticism of his work a year or so ago (from NRO?). Conclusion was that his early stuff was very good, but he got lazy and sloppy over the years.
***he actually used surrogates and assembly line techniques.***
There was a movie back in the 1980s in which Sally Field was an “artist” in one of these factories.
Can’t find it on IMDB.