@backworldman,
Perhaps it is that certain "themes" or ideas more readily capture the artistic imagination. One thinks of the Madonna and Child, Christ on the Cross, seascapes (particularly storms), nudes, battle scenes, heroic moments, and landscapes (mountains).
But this does not mean that all artistic creations are confined to expressing such themes---Andy Worhal's soup cans, Bosch's haunting scenes, or many of the great photographs that picture common objects.