Obviously OP art is much better than all the gay art WoTC now produces. However I'd argue it's also much better than 3e art and beyond. Personally I even prefer it to 2e, though it's close to a toss up.

The reason is the early B&W art is more surreal. It has a creepy, uncanny feel than the 3e+ art does not. A big part of that is everyone is an invulnerable superhero in 3e+, but that's not all of it. It's the reason why the best depictions of Lovecraftian monsters must be hints and glimpses and abstractions, otherwise it goes into a hyper-realistic drawing of "100 foot tall squid face".