Yuri "George" Schwebler (1942–1990), was a Yugoslavia-born American conceptual artist and sculptor. He was active in the arts in the 1970s in Washington, D.C., and most notably in February 1974, he transformed the

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father of the United States, victorious commander-in-chief of the Continen ...

into a sundial. He showed his work at the Jefferson Place Gallery.

Biography

Yuri Schwebler was born on November 21, 1942, in

Feketić Feketić ( sr-cyr, Фекетић, , or ) is a village located in the Mali Iđoš municipality, in the North Bačka District of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The village has a Hungarian ethnic majority and its po ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

(now Serbia), and raised in West Germany. At the time of his birth and early childhood,

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

occupied Yugoslavia. In 1956, he emigrated and moved with his family to Wilmington,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

. He graduated from Warner Junior High School and Seaford High School (in 1962) in Delaware. He attended

Western Maryland College McDaniel College is a private college in Westminster, Maryland, United States. Established in 1867, it was known as Western Maryland College until 2002 when it was renamed McDaniel College in honor of an alumnus who gave a lifetime of service to ...

(now McDaniel College). In 1965, Schwebler was drafted in to the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

. After his discharge from the U.S. Army, he started using the anglicized name George Schwebler. By 1967, he moved to Washington, D.C. He had been married to Joanne Hedge from 1968 to 1970. Together they moved to Marin County, California, and for a time he worked at the . When the marriage dissolved in March 1970, he spent two months at the Mendocino State Hospital before returning to Washington, D.C. He moved to New York in 1980, and stopped making art around 1981.

Death and legacy

Schwebler died at age 47 on March 3, 1990, in

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

by suicide and

carbon monoxide poisoning Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as " flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large ...

. He was survived by his partner, artist Enid Sanford, his mother Eva (née Lasi) Schwebler, and two sisters. His work was part of the posthumous retrospective art exhibition, ''Yuri Schwebler: The Spiritual Plan'' (2020) curated by John James Anderson at the American University Museum.

Work

His work ''Drawing Table: Table Drawing'' (1971), featured tools placed on a drawing table, and the surface of the drawing table has drawings of the same tools. Other works include ''Range pole'' (1975) a

plumb bob A plumb bob, plumb bob level, or plummet, is a weight, usually with a pointed tip on the bottom, suspended from a string and used as a vertical direction as a reference line, or plumb-line. It is a precursor to the spirit level and used to esta ...

and a level placed in a glass and wood box; and ''The Scale of the Horse'' (?) a small maquette of a horse, a device for enlarging the maquette to appear life size, and a final drawing of a horse. In 1973, Schwebler showed a series of large glass pyramid sculptures at

The Phillips Collection The Phillips Collection is an art museum founded by Duncan Phillips and Marjorie Acker Phillips in 1921 as the Phillips Memorial Gallery located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Phillips was the grandson of James H. Laughli ...

. In a 1981 exhibition in the Hudson River Museum, Schwebler recreated of the art studios for sculptors

Alexander Calder Alexander "Sandy" Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobile (sculpture), mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, hi ...

(''In the Tracks of Calder''),

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), known after 1911 as Piet Mondrian (, , ), was a Dutch Painting, painter and Theory of art, art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He w ...

Alberto Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, Drafter, draftsman and Printmaking, printmaker, who was one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. His work was particularly influenced ...

(''Giacometti’s Table here Painting Meets Sculpture', 1981), David Smith and Constantin Brancusi but adding his own creativity on some of them.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwebler, Yuri 1942 births 1990 deaths Yugoslav emigrants to the United States McDaniel College alumni Suicides in New York (state) American conceptual artists American male sculptors United States Army reservists Suicides by carbon monoxide poisoning