Once thousands of people found out the work they highly "invested" in, even in terms of retirement hope, was in fact mass-produced and relatively worthless, and the whole business scheme collapsed, and that the individual in question (Kincade) resorted to franchise fraud, and not merely art fraud, and then got indicted with a serious felony, and drank himself to death facing both bankruptcy and prison time, would you call that a successful career? That kind of thing has a chilling effect on legitimate galleries too. How does the unsuspecting man on the street, being tempted with an art investment opportunity, tell the difference?
For those who enjoy his genre, and got in early, and bought actual paintings, done entirely by himself with real brushes and canvas, they might have something. I know someone like that. But all the later production line work by others, and mass-produced fancy posters, soon lost its claimed value due to the sheer quantity of it out there. There was nothing wrong in making them in that manner, but there was with respect to the degree of deception in how they were being sold.
When someone goes into a prime tourism location, and then schemes how to drive out the neighboring galleries in an underhanded manner, and takes over their own locations trying to create a waterfront monopoly, all for sake of a similar slippery "investment" sales approach (Lik), should I feel sorry for him if the whole thing burns down? I do feel sorry for all the actual residents of Lahaina, and their terrible sufferings at the moment. But predatory outsider-owned and operated tourist traps might not benefit them a single penny. And it's more of the same that they're especially dreading in the upcoming rebuilding phase, pricing them out of their own town.
And would you want to be a "great businessman" having to constantly look over your shoulder due to repeatedly tempting the FBI by waving a red cape at the bull? There are in fact laws in place defining the parameters of what is acceptable and what is not, when it comes to art marketing. You can't claim just anything in order to get someone else's money.
The first time I actually stumbled into a Lik gallery in Vegas, on a business trip, I almost literally vomited. I've never seen worse work in my life, or more blatantly cheesy digital coloration. That totally unverifiable sale of the print in question was actually a black and white shot of an exact spot in Antelope Canyon photographed tens of thousands of times. An assistant threw up some dust in the air for a little cloud ("angel") effect, and then the resulting digital image was over-colored solid red, no nuance whatsoever, and the actual quality of ink-jetting is downright amateurish. I'd defy any of you whining about by my comments to actually see one of those mass-produced samples in person and not call it the kind utter trash which discredits outdoor photographers in general. The actual image is vertical, rather blaah, but garish red all over. The web example has been doctored in another manner, as if a masterful black and white print with bold contrast, which it is not. The secret Arabic collector appears to be totally fictitious.
So Koraks, you obviously don't know what you are talking about in this instance. This is all old stuff being reposted, and to this day has never been verified. What cash? If there was cash, and the transaction has no evident paperwork, and the transaction really occurred, then the IRS would been barreling down on him for tax evasion years ago, and on felony scale, if anything really of that alleged sum of money transpired. But other than his own unverified web claim, there never has been a drop of proof he ever sold anything even remotely in that price range. "Good for him"? - for what, being an effective snake oil salesman? Being rich?
It is justifiable for him to sell some really huge prints in the forty thousand or so range, because that kind of item is inherently very expensive just to produce, properly and and frame, and install. And that is something his facility is highly competent to do. Why anyone would actually look at those big kindergartenish faux-colorized abominations in their own homes is another matter. The kind of thing one might encounter in Vegas or Miami, certainly not here, thank goodness.