[acjohnson55]

> do his individual works stand alone or do you have to understand his life and/or complete body of work and the context in which it was created to appreciate it?

From my perspective, I'd say it's really more important to know where an artist's work stands in relation to their culture and their contemporaries. Most important artworks can be seen to have extended previous practice, to have influenced subsequent practice, and/or can be seen in retrospect to belong to some coherent zeitgeist.

You may see some works to truly stand alone. But I've personally found it difficult to connect to most great artworks that way.