Per Schwab (17 August 1911 – 2 August 1970) was a Swedish-born Norwegian painter,

scenographer A scenographer or scenic designer, also production designer, is a person who develops the appearance of a stage design, a TV or movie set, a gaming environment, a trade fair exhibition design or a museum experience exhibition design. The term ori ...

, and

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

Biography

Schwab was born in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden. His parents were the professor Eigil Wilhelm Schwab (1882–1952) and the painter Anna Axén (1880–1962). He attended the

Royal Institute of Technology KTH Royal Institute of Technology (), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technology and is Sweden's largest technical university. Since 2018, KTH consist ...

in Stockholm and studied for six years at the

Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts (), commonly called the Royal Academy, is located in Stockholm, Sweden. An independent organization that promotes the development of painting, sculpture, architecture, and other fine arts, it is one of seve ...

. He was hired by the theater director Hans Jacob Nilsen as a scene painter at the National Theater in Bergen in 1934. He became the permanent scenographer and later served as theatre director from 1952 to 1961. From 1961 onward he worked as a scenographer at the National Theatre. Schwab married the actress Astrid Leikvang (1907–1997) in 1937; they were divorced in 1942. In 1944, Schwab married another actress, Thora Neels-Hansson (1918– 2007), the daughter of the theatre director Gunnar Neels-Hansson (1873–1967). Their daughter, Tine Schwab, became a set designer and scenographer at the

Oslo Opera House The Oslo Opera House () is the home of the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the national opera house in Norway. The building is situated in the Bjørvika neighbourhood of central Oslo, at the head of the Oslofjord. It is operated by S ...

References

Norwegian theatre directors 20th-century Norwegian painters Norwegian male painters People from Haninge Municipality 1911 births 1970 deaths Swedish emigrants to Norway 20th-century Norwegian male artists {{Theat-director-stub