I think the essential question that can be discussed is not "What does art mean?" or "How does art mean?" but "How do statements about art mean?"

If you and I are in a gallery and we look at a Leonardo, then we move to a Rothko, we have no way to compare our feelings about the two art works without making a statement that we can share with each other. But the statement we make about our feelings is not the same as the feelings themselves. We can only discuss how we talk about art. What any individual feels about an art work can be communicated to another individual only through language, which is much more obfuscating than revealing.

I've seen only one painting that made me cry. If you saw that painting, you might cry as well (though our shared tears would not necessarily indicate a similar perception or interpretation), or you might not. But if I describe that painting to you and explain why it made me cry, I'm fairly sure that my description would not make you cry. My description would tell you more about me than about the art work.