Greatest Art Heists in History

Art is one of those items of value which criminals consider to be the most impressive to steal. Compared to cash and other valuables, art is one of the most highly prized and most difficult to steal for a number of reasons. For starters unique famous art is very well protected. So to be able to rob a painting from a gallery is most impressive. Getting into a vault-like gallery is one thing, but being able to successfully remove it in one piece is another often due to the sheer size, shape and awkwardness of the item being stolen. Another reason is that art is sought for not just monetary reasons. For some it is the history and the legacy of the image and its artist which is so vigorously desired, while for others it is the prestige of owning something which is wanted by so many others. This is why collectors have been known to commission art thieves to attempt a heist.

Here are some of the most famous art heists in history:

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Rembrandt's Jacob de Gheyn III

This has been dubbed the 'Most Stolen Painting in the World'. This is of course because it has been stolen more times than any other famous painting. While this is not really the victim of a great art heist on its own, the collective series of thefts makes it one of the greatest. The painting has been recovered every time and has been found in a taxi, on the luggage rack of a train, attached to a bike and under a bench in a graveyard. The most common excuse for its repeated theft is the fact that it measures only 29.9cm x 24.9cm!

Vermeer's The Concert

This was stolen as part of the largest in the world ever when it was taken, along with 13 other pieces from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990. Collectively the items are worth 0 million with Vermeer's The Concert making up 0 million. There is a reward offered for information leading to their recovery which stands at million. A substantial amount when you consider that they consist of nothing more than a few brush strokes of paint or drawing inks bashed out on a canvas on a field easel over the last few hundred years.

Nazi Thefts and Looting during World War 2

Throughout the course of the Second World War, tens of thousands of pieces of art were stolen by the Reichsleiter Rosenberg Institute for the Occupied Territories which in the ended stole over 20% of the art in Europe. The value of this is almost incalculable, but must be something in the 100s of billions.

Greatest Art Heists in History

The Grand Canal by Francesco Guardi

In the galleries of the Art Institute of Chicago hangs "The Grand Canal" by Francesco Guardi. This painting is a lovely landscape of the churches and buildings around the Grand Canal in Venice.

Immediately upon looking at this wonderful work you are struck by the activity in it. On the right side of the painting near the stairs of the church are people gather and talking or entering the structure. To the left side of the painting you see the canal filled with boats and gondolas all of which have people on-board.

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Guardi uses the technique of one-point perspective to draw the viewer into the painting, if you look at the landing on the right side of the painting that leads to the church you will notice that a line is formed that points to the center of the painting at the horizon. Further to the right the top of the buildings in the background form a line that also meets at the same point on the horizon, this same line can also be detected on the edges of the decorative trim and molding on the church, these are more difficult to denote because there is not a long line to assist your eye see the angle.

The dome of the church is not executed correctly in terms of perspective for the base of the dome curves too much and should be a thinner parabola than what is rendered here, however, the technical precision is not what the painting is about, the painting is about the Grand Canal and the abundance of life there. Guardi has gone into great detail to bring out the feeling of the site, the details are remarkable in that they are not sterile drafting renderings of architectural design, rather, this is a work of art that is able of infuse the beauty of the architecture with the people in the surroundings. Everyone is well dress and in good spirits.

There are many boats and sea worthy vessels in the Grand Canal and Guardi has done a masterful job of detail so well the figures and structures of the boats. In the background along the horizon you can see a number of large churches and public buildings. The detail, however, is in the smaller structures, which Guardi is very much interested in.

This work bears all the fruit of the Italian Baroque style and is a pleasure to spend time with.

Stephen F. Condren - Artist

The Grand Canal by Francesco Guardi

Master Chef - The Highest Achievement For an American Chef

A Master-Chef is a professionally certified chef who has received the title of Certified Master-Chef - an honor which is held by less than 100 people in the United States of America. This certification is given out only to those chefs who have received a lot of training and have demonstrated a recognizable level of excellence in culinary arts programs.

A Master-Chef is a professional qualification that is earned by a chef - they are Certified Master-Chefs who have completed the requisite examination conducted by the American Culinary Federation. The Master-Chef examination was started in the year 1981 as a method of encouraging chefs to work towards achieving excellence in the culinary arts.

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The Certified Master-Chef program requires for the chefs to attend a eight days long practical examination which is rigorous and tests the culinary knowledge and skills of a chef. The chefs are tested on subjects which include skills and techniques involved in cooking, use of ingredients in cooking, presentation of the food, the timing of service, safety and sanitation involved in the maintenance of a restaurant. After the course is completed, there is a final test that the chef must pass.

The course costs ,000 and takes place only on two approved test sites: one is The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and the second site is the California Campus of The Culinary Institute of America, which is based in Napa Valley.

To begin to work towards the Master-Chef qualification you would have to start with a degree in the culinary arts. You can either start with a two year Associate Degree or a four year Bachelors Degree to start working your way towards a career in the culinary arts. After the degree, you would have to gain a deeper foundation in the culinary arts, which includes practical, hands-on experience in the culinary field.

Most hotels and restaurants are very keen on hiring those chefs who have earned their certification as a Master-Chef. Typically, the annual salary of a Certified Master-Chef can range from ,000 to ,000.

So if you want to really make your mark in the culinary industry, then working towards getting your Certification as a Master-Chef is certainly a goal to be working for.

Master Chef - The Highest Achievement For an American Chef

Carving Flowers From Vegetables

Food is a universal need; all human beings require sustenance to survive. But food doesn't always have to be utilitarian in nature. When presented in a special way, food can even become a work of art. Carving flowers from vegetables is one means of creating art out of food. A beautiful presentation can make food look more expensive, more appropriate for a formal function, and can even give people the illusion that it tastes better! Vegetable carvings are great because they are not only beautiful, they are also edible. The diner can enjoy the adornment and also get the nutritional value as well.

The art of beautiful food presentation is practiced in fine restaurants all over the country and taught at culinary institutes all over the world. Top chefs are taught the art of carving flowers from vegetables and they bring that knowledge to their restaurants and to other dining establishments such as cruise ships and buffets. For a fancy food buffet, vegetables flowers serve as a perfect decoration that is both beautiful and functional. Guests will enjoy the presentation, and be pleasantly surprised that it is edible!

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Even though this craft can give food a more expensive feel, in reality it's not expensive at all. Vegetables are very affordable and all it takes to complete is a set of knifes. In fact, anyone can do it in their own home with a little instruction and some practice! If you're interested in learning the art, you can find information and instructions on the internet. You can also look into classes at a local culinary institute or family arts center. Even children can learn carving flowers from vegetables if they are properly supervised!

The vegetables that can be used for carving include radishes, tomatoes, onions, carrots, and cucumbers,and some fruits such as melons also lend themselves well to carving. Each vegetable should be carefully prepped for optimal freshness prior to carving, by washing, peeling if necessary, and preserving by mixing salt or lime with water to spray on the vegetables. If you intend the vegetables for consumption, however, you might want to skip this step. Afterwards the carvings should be stored properly to keep them looking crisp for as long as possible.

The arrangement of the vegetable flowers is also an important part of the process. You can arrange an entire plate full of the carvings, or you can use them sparingly as adornment for other dishes. Choose colors that complement the meal you are decorating. Make sure the size of the vegetable flower is in appropriate proportion to the food it accompanies. With a little research and instruction, you can create beautiful art out of vegetables just like the world's top chefs.

Carving Flowers From Vegetables

The Art Of Fast Money Making

In the immortal words of the great Zig Ziglar, "Money isn't the most important thing in life, but it's reasonably close to oxygen on the "gotta have it" scale"

I am going to, in this article, refine your understanding about money. One of my greatest insights and valuable observations is to accept that money is not all the same. There are different species of money, you can divide money into 3 groups. Fast money, hourly money and credit money. The first is not based or connected to time, the other two are completely based around time.

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Immediately we can observe when looking at these three species of money that one is very desire-able and the other two are worse and much worse. One stands head and shoulders above the other two and is the key to wealth. The other two lead to a life of daily roil and the poor house respectively.

Credit money, money you borrow to buy certain pleasures in life is the worst kind of money. Not surprisingly it is very closely connected to "hourly money" because to get credit money you must prove that you have hourly money....a job. Then you can have access to credit money.

The point of credit money is to exchange time for the interest you pay. In other words, you can buy that car today and pay for it later. For a compounded interest rate of 10% to 20% you buy tomorrow's savings today. For people that prefer "hourly money" this type of transaction can seem highly desire-able. You don't have to wait 5 years to save for that car because you can have it now. The problem with "credit money" is the same problem that one gets with "hourly money" but much worse. Not only are we selling our precious time for money, but now we are selling and committing tomorrow's time for money today.

Hourly Money is the most obvious way to make money for people. Hourly labor for hourly money. 90% of the worlds population gets their money this way. A very inefficient way to get your money but you get it for sure. Security of a pay check is the number one reason why people strive to get hourly money.

Before reading this article, you may have never even thought about the three species of money. You may have not even considered that there is another type of money but hourly money and credit money. But there is. Fast money is what the 10% wealthy people strive for. The financial owners of planet Earth, the 10% cream of financial circles create money they dont work for it.

Fast Money - The art of authentic creation
The art of fast money can be boiled down to one specific and it's that it's not connected to time. In this strange world, 0,000 in 10 minutes is nothing unusual. A million dollars in an afternoon is typical. ,000 in 2 days is nothing special. You may balk at these time frames and amounts but that is the point of this species of money. The TIME component is totally irrelevant.

So if hourly money and credit money are instrinsicaly centered around time...what is fast money centered around?

SOLUTIONS

Fast money is not made by mindless time counting. Fast money is made by delivering solutions. An example of this can be found in the old dentists joke. A guy goes in to have a tooth removed and the dentist tells the fellow it will cost 00 to remove. The fellow replies, well how long will it take? The dentist replies 2 minutes. The poor guy is incredulous, you mean to tell me that you want 00 for 2 minutes work? The dentist replies, well sir, if u want me to take an hour doing it I can do that too.

You see the old fellow needed a solution to his problem. The dentist had that solution and had the tools to achieve the solution in 2 minutes. The fellow wanted a solution to his problem and THAT is what he was paying for, not the time spent, as his dentist adeptly pointed out.

Fast money and the art of finding and getting fast money can be found by finding people with urgent and pressing problems.

To get involved in this amazing fast money world, you must seek out these types of people. Find these types situations and begin providing your own unique and authentic solutions to get paid fast.

The Art Of Fast Money Making