Diffusion transfer reproduction of a 1917 portrait of the composer by Picasso, signed by Stravinsky, who has inscribed "To Bernardine Fritz / send thanks for your kind words and also for trying to STOP us of BEING AFRAID / Cordially / Igor Stravinsky / Nov 57."  Framed with an engraved plaque.  In fine condition.  Framed to 20.5 x 24.5 inches (52.1 x 62.2 cm.).

Born in Illinois, Bernardine Fritz (1896-1982) worked as a reporter for the Chicago Evening Post and the New York Daily News before moving to Europe in 1925.  She lived in London and Paris, where she was a correspondent for the The New Yorker, and traveled extensively throughout India and China, where she established the International Art Theater in Shanghai.  After settling in Los Angeles in 1939, she established her "Hollywood salon" which brought together the leading literary and artistic personalities of the era, many of whom were American expatriates she met during her European exile, including longtime LA resident Igor Stravinsky.

Both pioneers within their own movements, Picasso and Stravinsky became friends in Italy just before the First World War in 1917, brought together by Sergei Diaghilev, the savvy impresario of the Ballets Russes who was toying with the idea of commissioning a ballet.  The two men immediately hit it off and spent a great deal of time immersing themselves in the popular culture of Rome and Naples.  They continued their friendship by exchanging small pieces of art and music by mail, and the present portrait is one of three made of the composer by Picasso during this time.  Eventually, they collaborated together on ‘Ragtime’ and, two years later, Diaghilev commissioned his ballet, Pulcinella, for which Picasso designed the sets and costumes.