The Museum of Modern Art's "Flame" (c. 1934-38), for example, is a precursor to all-over abstraction, with its jagged orange, black and white slashes that represent a raging fire.

WSJ: Men of Fire | Hood Museum | Becoming Jackson Pollock | By Lee Rosenbaum

This was the precursor of all subsequent annual CSR reporting and the first time a company felt compelled to state, not only their financial performance, but also the non-financial impacts their operations had on the communities and the environment where they operated.

FORBES: Part I in a CSR Series: Corporate Citizenship in a Global Economy

Self-awareness is, after all, a precursor to improvement.

FORBES: Magazine Article

For example, although wheat varieties grown now vary widely in their traits and genetics, all are derived from a common precursor first domesticated in Turkey around 9000 B.

FORBES: Frankenfish Fatuity

There is even a precedent: Italy imposed a small tax on all deposits in 1992 as part of its battle to stay in the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, a precursor to the single currency.

WSJ: Euro Zone Moving Into Twilight Zone