I don’t agree. Modern art (abstract, abstract expressionism, someone like Chuck Close) is exceptional. And people respond to paint and paint quality far more than theoretical. In fact, most of the conceptual art cannot stand on its own - it must be accompanied by a treatise and the treatise is often the only interesting thing. But art, to last the centuries, must stand on its own.
It’s not a polar choice - either conceptual or realism. There is a huge range of far more interesting art in between.
I’d recommend reading the two blog posts I referred to above.