Nasce a Basilea, in Svizzera nel 1904. Compie studi in Architettura e Grafica a Colonia e Berlino. Nel 1924 partecipa all’esperienza del Bauhaus a Weimar e Dessau insieme a W. Gropius, W. Kandinsky, P. Klee, J. Albers, O. Schlemmer e La. Moholy-Nagy, implementando le sue conoscenze fotografiche e tipografiche. Nel 1933 si trasferisce a Milano dove collabora con lo Studio Boggeri nella realizzazione di campagne pubblicitarie. Tra il 1943 e il 1954 è professore al City College e alla New York University.
SELEZIONE ESPOSIZIONI PERSONALI:
1926
Dessau, Bauhaus Kunsthalle
1936
Beria, Black Mountain College
1942
New York, A –D Gallery
Chicago, Institute of Design
Cambridge, Harward University
1953
New York, Hugo Gallery
1954
Great Barrington, Bookside Hall
Beverly, Raymond Galleries
1955
New York, Moskin Gallery
New York, Todes Gallery
1956
Caracas, Galeria Don Hatch
1957
Michigan, Saginaw Museum
Vermont, Bennington College
1958
New York, Herman Miller Gallery
New York, Bodley Gallery
Montclair, Highgate Gallery
1961
New York, Iolas Gallery
Darmstadt, Messelhaus
Zurigo, Galerie Suzanne Bollag
1962
Francoforte, Galerie Interiors
Basilea, Galerie Munsterberg
Chicago, Museum of Science
1964
Firenze, Galleria La Colonna
Stuttgart, Haus der Guten Form
Chicago, Distelheim Galleries
1966
Basilea, Galerie Munsterberg
1968
New York, Ireland House
Basilea, Galerie Herman Miller
1969
Milano, Galleria Blu
1971
Intra, Galleria Corsini
1973
Zurigo, Galerie Suzanne Bollag
Stresa, Galleria Spazzapan
New York, Herbert Benevy Gallery
Basilea, Galerie Munsterberg
1975
Bologna, Galleria d’Arte Moderna
1978
Monaco, Galleria del Levante
1979
Locarno, Galleria Flaviana
1981
Locarno, Galleria Flaviana
1986
Berlino, Bauhaus Archiv
1990
Stuttgart, Galerie Dobele
2007
Zurigo, Arte Fine Art Photography
2010
New York, Broadway 1602, Beyond Bauhaus, Faces of War
2011
Tel Aviv, Xanti Schawinsky – Tempo rubato
2014
New York, The Drawing Center, Xanti Schawinsky – Head Drawings and Faces of war
2015
Zurigo, Migros Museum fur Gegenwartskunst, Xanti Schawinsky
2016
Zurigo, Karma International, Xanti
Schawinsky
Bergen, Bergen Kunsthall, Xanti
Schawinsky – Head Drawings and Faces of war
SELEZIONE ESPOSIZIONI COLLETTIVE:
1923
Berlino, Preussische Kunst-Akademie
1925
Mannheim, Staatliche Kunsthalle
1927
Magdeburg, Theater Ausstellung
1928
Basilea, Kunsthalle
Stuttgart, Kunstmuseum
Halle, Hallescher Kunstverein
1929
Berlino, Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum
1934
Milano, Galleria del Milione
1938
New York, Plexiglass Sculpture Show
New York, Museum of Modern Art
1941
New York, Museum of Modern Art
1943
New York, Julian Levy Gallery
1944
New York, Museum of Modern Art
1951
Buffalo, Albright Gallery
New York, Pratt Institute
1953
New York, Museum of Modern Art
New York, The Whitney Museum of American Art
1954
New York – Chicago – Washington – Dallas – Miami – San Francisco – Toronto, Knoll Associates
1957
San Paolo, Biennale di San Paolo
Rio de Janeiro, Museo di Arte Moderna
1960
Zurigo, Helmhaus
New York, P.S. 57
1961
Zurigo, Kunstgewerbemuseum
New York, Jewish Welfare Fund
1963
New York, P.V.I. Gallery
New York, Little Red School
1965
New York, Museum of Modern Art
1968-71
Stuttgart, 50 Jahre Bauhaus
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum
Londra, National Gallery
Parigi, Musée National d’Art Moderne
Chicago, Art Museum
Pasadena, Museo d’Arte Moderna
Buenos Aires, Museo d’Arte Moderna
Tokyo, Museo d’Arte Moderna
1972
Stresa, Galleria Spazzapan
Intra, Galleria Corsini
1974
Torino, Galleria Pourquoi pas?
Stresa, Galleria Spazzapan
1977
Roma, Villa Carpegn, X Quadriennale Nazionale d’Arte
1978
Monaco, Galleria del Levante, Das Experimentelle Photo in Deutschland, 1918 – 1940
1980
Locarno, Galleria Flaviana, La linea sottile
1981
Messico, Foro de Arte Contemporanea, La linea Subtil
1985
Montreal, Musée d’Art contemporain de Montréal, La photographie du Bauhaus
1988
Colonia, Kolnischer Kunstverein, Bauhaus
Utopias. Work on paper
New York, Museum of Modern Art, The
Modern Poster
Madrid, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Utopias de la Bauhaus. Obra sobre papel
1989
Berlino, Staatliche Berliner Kunsthalle, Maschinenmenschen
1999
New York, National Design Museum, Graphic Design in the Mechanical Age: Selections from the Merril C. Berman Coll – Cooper-Hewitt
2002
Madrid, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Black Mountain College: Una aventura americana
2005
New York, The Noguchi Museum, The Imagery of Chess Revisited
2008
Berlino, Galerie Berinson, Bauhaus
2009
New York, Ubu Gallery, European & Russian Photomontage 1920 – 1940
2010
Berlino, Fotogalerie Friedrichshain, 25 Jahre Fotogalerie Friedrichshain
2014
Seoul, National Museum of Contemporary Art Korea, Human, Space, Machine
Lodz, Museum Sztuki in Lodz, Changing
the field of view. Modern printing and the avant-garde
2015
Berlino, Hamburger Bahnof, Black
Mountain. An Interdisciplinary Experiment 1933 – 1957
Stuttgart, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, I
Got Rhythm. Kunst und Jazz seit 1920
Vienna, Bank Austria Kunstforum, Reflexion.
Selbstbesinnungen der Fotografie
New York, The Jewish Museum, Unorthodox
2016
Zurigo, Migros Museum fur Gegenwartskunst, Collection Revisited 1960 – 1982