I doubt that Buddha would have agreed. His thinking was more that suffering, although a normal part of human life, can be avoided by letting go of attachments.
Likewise, I think Jesus would have said that great human attributes are produced by righteousness and universal love, not some kind of suffering.
However, there are many cases that seem to illustrate your point. IMHO, great art is something that causes an emotional reaction in the viewer - more, that it causes the viewer to empathise with the artist. If the artist isn't feeling something and expressing it as the create, there is nothing to empathise with, and all they're doing is graphic design.
However, the emotion doesn't have to be pain or misery. Joy, love, hope etc will do, as well as fear, despair, sadness. Try playing Beethoven's 9th (Ode to Joy) at top volume on your stereo and tell me that isn't great.
UG, one more comment like that and you're going in a home.
