The mass public mounting of the great man (vs his actual commercial success)

I am both so profoundly moved by the mass public outpouring of grief for David Lynch’s passing and also a little confused by it. He seems so incredibly beloved by everyone, yet commercially, his work always barely ever made a dent. All these major Hollywood titans of industry are publicly mourning him, yet he was having trouble getting anything new greenlit over the last several years. Even Twin Peaks: The Return - SO hyped and long-awaited before it aired - debuted to very soft, pretty low viewing figures. I was at a small dinner party last night and people were talking about how sad they were about Lynch’s death - and then asked me for movie recommendations of his to try because they had never seen one before! I was so bewildered (and referred them to either Blue Velvet or Mulholland Drive as jumping-off points). Can anyone speak to what they think is going on here?