About
Xanti Schawinsky (1904-1979) was a pioneering Bauhaus artist and educator. He revolutionized modern theater with his innovative stage performances and experimental art.
Xanti Schawinsky, born in Basel, is best known for his work at the Bauhaus, where he studied under renowned teachers such as Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky. His innovative stage performances and visual sketches shaped modern theater.
After his time at the Bauhaus, he worked as a set designer and freelance artist in Germany and Italy before being invited by Josef Albers to teach at Black Mountain College in the USA in 1936. There, he developed the revolutionary concept of "Stage Studies," an early form of performance art that combined art and science.
Schawinsky significantly influenced the avant-garde scene and set new standards with his experimental paintings in the 1950s. His work includes painting, photography, set design, and experimental art forms, reflecting his versatile creativity and innovative spirit.
Today, the Xanti Schawinsky Estate preserves, researches and promotes his work through exhibitions, publications and collaborations with museums and cultural institutions internationally.
Past Exhibitions
Play, Life, Illusion. Xanti Schawinsky + Monster Chetwynd: Xanti Shenanigans
Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Germany
15 March – 15 June 2025
Xanti Schawinsky: Early Works
Galerie Gregor Staiger, Milan
14 February – 25 April 2025
Xanti Schawinsky: Play, Life, Illusion – a Retrospective Mudam Luxembourg – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg 12 July 2024 – 5 January 2025
Xanti Schawinsky: Eclipses
Galerie Gregor Staiger, Zurich
8 March – 18 May 2024
Xanti Schawinsky: Pittura processuale. Museo Casa Rusca, Locarno, 1. Apr.- 5. Nov. 2023
Xanti Schawinsky: Paintings from 1950s to the 1970s, Galerie Berinson Berlin,
2. Sept.- 2022 – 31 März, 2023
A From Depero To Rotella: Italian Commercial Posters Between Advertising And Art, Center For Italian Modern Art, New York, 16. Feb. – 19. Juni 2023
Dreams That Money Can Buy, Galerie Hubert Winter Wien, 16. Dez. 2022 – 11. Feb. 2023
Xanti Schawinsky: 1933-1977, Ten Haaf Projects Amsterdam, 19. Nov. – 23. Dez. 2022
The Paradox of Stillness: Art, Object, and Performance, Walker Art Center, Minneapolism Minnesota, USA, 15. Mai - 8. Aug. 2021
Smoke and Mirrors: The Roaring Twenties, Kunsthaus Zürich, 3. Juli -11. Okt. 2020, anschliessend Museo Guggenheim Bilbao: 7. Mai – 19. Sept. 2021
The Bauhaus And Its Consequences 1919 to 2019, Kunstmuseum Magdeburg, 22. Sept.1919 - 9. Feb. 2020
Xanti Schawinsky – Vom Bauhaus in die Welt. Ausstellung im Kunstmuseum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen 21. Juni 2015 bis 25. September 2016.
Raphael Gygax und Heike Munder (Hrsg.): Xanti Schawinsky. [Ausstellung Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, 21.2.–17.5.2015]. Zürich, 2015
Xanti Schawinsky - Spectodrama [Ausstellung Galerie Carla Sozzani Mailand, 30.10.1997–11.1.1998]. Mailand 1997
Eckhard Neumann, Roger Schmid (Konzeption): Xanti Schawinsky Foto. [Ausstellung Bern]. Bentelli, Bern 1989
Paolo Blendinger, Giorgio Giudici (Hrsg.): Xanti Schawinsky [Ausstellung Galleria La Colomba 1987]. Lugano 1987
Peter Hahn, Barbara Paul: Xanti Schawinsky: Malerei, Bühne, Grafikdesign, Fotografie. [Ausstellung Bauhaus-Archiv, Berlin, 22. März – 19. Mai 1986]. Berlin: Nicolai 1986
Literature
Torsten Blume, Daniel Schawinsky (eds.)
Xanti Schawinsky: Play, Life, Illusion.
A Retrospective in Texts, Letters and Images
Hirmer Verlag, 2025.
Published by Mudam Luxembourg – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean and the Xanti Schawinsky Estate Zürich.
240 pages, 72 illustrations.
Xanti Schawinsky: Pittura processuale. Museo Casa Rusca, Locarno, 1. Apr.- 5. Nov. 2023
Xanti Schawinsky: Paintings from 1950s to the 1970s, Galerie Berinson Berlin,
2. Sept.- 2022 – 31 März, 2023
A From Depero To Rotella: Italian Commercial Posters Between Advertising And Art, Center For Italian Modern Art, New York, 16. Feb. – 19. Juni 2023
Dreams That Money Can Buy, Galerie Hubert Winter Wien, 16. Dez. 2022 – 11. Feb. 2023
Xanti Schawinsky: 1933-1977, Ten Haaf Projects Amsterdam, 19. Nov. – 23. Dez. 2022
The Paradox of Stillness: Art, Object, and Performance, Walker Art Center, Minneapolism Minnesota, USA, 15. Mai - 8. Aug. 2021
Smoke and Mirrors: The Roaring Twenties, Kunsthaus Zürich, 3. Juli -11. Okt. 2020, anschliessend Museo Guggenheim Bilbao: 7. Mai – 19. Sept. 2021
The Bauhaus And Its Consequences 1919 to 2019, Kunstmuseum Magdeburg, 22. Sept.1919 - 9. Feb. 2020
Xanti Schawinsky – Vom Bauhaus in die Welt. Ausstellung im Kunstmuseum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen 21. Juni 2015 bis 25. September 2016.
Raphael Gygax und Heike Munder (Hrsg.): Xanti Schawinsky. [Ausstellung Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, 21.2.–17.5.2015]. Zürich, 2015
Xanti Schawinsky - Spectodrama [Ausstellung Galerie Carla Sozzani Mailand, 30.10.1997–11.1.1998]. Mailand 1997
Eckhard Neumann, Roger Schmid (Konzeption): Xanti Schawinsky Foto. [Ausstellung Bern]. Bentelli, Bern 1989
Paolo Blendinger, Giorgio Giudici (Hrsg.): Xanti Schawinsky [Ausstellung Galleria La Colomba 1987]. Lugano 1987
Peter Hahn, Barbara Paul: Xanti Schawinsky: Malerei, Bühne, Grafikdesign, Fotografie. [Ausstellung Bauhaus-Archiv, Berlin, 22. März – 19. Mai 1986]. Berlin: Nicolai 1986
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