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Germany, Italy

Xanti Schawinsky (center) smiling with Herbert Bayer (left) and Walter Gropius (right), laughing in casual attire.

Xanti Schawinsky (center) with Herbert Bayer and Walter Gropius, Photo: Ise Gropius, 1933

In late summer 1929, Schawinsky was appointed by Johannes Göderitz as the head of the graphics department of the municipal building authority in Magdeburg. In this role, he designed a variety of printed materials and exhibitions for the city and also took over the picture editing for the theater newspaper "Das Stichwort". Due to political and racist hostility, he left Magdeburg at the end of 1931 and moved to Berlin. There, he worked as a freelance artist and graphic designer, collaborating on architectural and exhibition projects with his friends Walter Gropius, Herbert Bayer, and Marcel Breuer. 

Xanti Schawinsky in Ascona, Photo: Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, 1930

Scrapbook-style collage of Xanti Schawinsky photos ca. 1935, featuring beach scenes, group photos, and a handwritten letter
1930 photo of Xanti Schawinsky in Ascona, smiling on a sunny day. Captured by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.

Xanti Schawinsky, photo: unknown, around 1935

After the Nazis came to power, Schawinsky emigrated to Italy, where from late 1933 to 1936, he worked as a freelance graphic designer for the Milan-based "Studio Boggeri" and various Italian companies, including Illy Caffè, Cinzano, Motta, and Olivetti.

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