The Night Kasimir Malewitsch Stole the Black Square

Hans Traxler is a wonderful narrator and a master of comical art. In these eight stories, he shines a light on the art scene in the most entertaining way.

Would Kasimir Malewitsch have created his legendary black square if it wasn’t for this now entirely forgotten group of anarchic students from the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts? Would Piet Mondrian have earned as much fame if a good but slightly scatter-brained fairy had not put a box in his cradle containing a tiny ruler, a right angle, a pencil, four paintbrushes and four bottles of paint: red, blue, yellow, and black? And what about the art enthusiast who spent a night inside a giant Nana at a retrospective on the work of Niki de Saint Phalle and was subsequently chased through half of Europe by a personified Nana? Is every man an artist (Beuys) or will everyone be world-famous for 15 minutes in the future (Warhol)? After reading this delightful satire, you might certainly doubt it.