Igor Stravinsky - An Unlikely Spy

http://dustanddrag.tumblr.com/post/2852372149/pablo-picassos-portrait-of-igor-stravinsky-1920

In 1917, Stravinsky met the great artist Pablo Picasso in Italy.
They had a lot in common in that they both viewed the act of creating something as a problem to be solved!
Picasso did a drawing of Stravinsky.
It was in his luggage when he returned to Switzerland.
The customs officials, who could not have known much about art, interrogated the composer.

The exchange went something like this:
“What is this sketch?”
“My portrait drawn by Picasso.”
“Nonsense. It must be a plan.”
“Yes – the plan of my face.”

However, the customs officials remained unconvinced.
With World War I raging, they thought it was a secret plan of military importance and confiscated it.
It was necessary for Stravinsky’s friends at the British Embassy to intervene and retrieve it for him. 

source:
http://www.artsalive.ca/pdf/mus/stravinsky_all_e.pdf

Și pentru că Stravinsky și Cocteau au fost bun prieteni, cel din urmă a găsit de cuviință să-l imortalizeze pe primul altfel:

http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/hhowe/music784/images/Stravinsky04.jpg

Ăsta da plan!

Picasso a revenit și el:

http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/hhowe/music784/images/Stravinsky05.jpg