XANTI SCHAWINSKY (1904-1979) SI. 1934. 371/2x251/2 inches. Alfieri & Lacroix, Milan. Condition B+: restoration and discoloration along vertical and horizontal folds. Xanti studied in Zurich, Cologne, Berlin, with the Bauhaus in Weimar and worked in the Boggieri in Milan for some of Italy's most prestigious advertising clients (such as Motta, Olivetti and the Italia Cosulich Lines). In 1936 he emigrated to America, at the behest of Josef Albers, who invited him to teach at the Black Mountain College, where Xanti remained for the duration of the war, working with such luminaries as Breuer and Walter Gropius. Given Xanti's artistic background and his connections to the avant-garde movements, it is no wonder that this poster is one of the most powerful of the period-as strong and as well designed as the best Russian photomontages of the same time. What is not so understandable is why he did the poster at all as it would seem to run completely against his political beliefs. Commissioned to celebrate the 12th year of the Fascist regime in Italy, this exceptional photomontage showing Mussolini with his body composed of a crowd of people, and the big word "Si" at the bottom filled with fascist imagery and triumphant vote results is a visual paean to Il Duce. Berman p. 57 fig 2.6, Anni Trenta p. 487, no. 2, Le Coultre p. 50.
