Other artists, notably Wassily Kandinsky and Kasimir Malevich, the Russian pioneers of abstraction, are more difficult cases.

ECONOMIST: History of ideas

Art-historical references to such abstract painters as Franz Kline, Kasimir Malevich, Piet Mondrian and Mark Rothko pass through the stage pictures.

WSJ: A Puppeteer's 'Rite' of Passage | Basil Twist | By Robert Greskovic

"He just fell like he was collapsing, " Kasimir Gaston told CNN.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS