You could masterfully copy the Van Gogh stroke for stroke, but without the understanding behind the composition, intent, and meaning behind the work, I’d argue

You could masterfully copy the Van Gogh stroke for stroke, but without the understanding behind the composition, intent, and meaning behind the work, I’d argue you learned nothing. Except for how to copy. The student/teacher interaction is where you learn. Even if you want to only paint in Van Gogh’s style, the back and forth with the teacher is where you actually learn how to apply that style to new works. To explore the meaning behind the stars, etc. (You could get there solo, but you’d still need to go through the criticism/questioning phase somehow, which is probably best done with an IRL teacher).