[magicalhippo]

> commercially successful within the timeframe I had to sell their art

That's what I meant with successful. Not sure what other variations there would be, though I'm not a native speaker.

[llamaimperative]

For example, to receive prestigious awards would also fit under "successful," regardless of monetary components. To be recognized after death as one of the Masters would be successful.

[magicalhippo]

The author is talking about the artistry being aligned with market forces in the paragraph preceding the quote.

I don't really see how either of those definitions fit in that context.

[llamaimperative]

Sure, but now you're just circularly defining it back to what was initially pointed out: this is implicitly a very specific definition of greatness, ergo yeah, you replace the word with "successful" and it's implicitly a very specific definition of successful.