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 shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and ...

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

Biography

Yuri Schwebler was born on November 21, 1942 in Feketić,

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

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

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

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

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacen ...

. He graduated from Warner Junior High School and Seaford High School (in 1962) in Delaware. He attended Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College). In 1965, Schwebler was drafted in to the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a 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 Forces. Since July 2020, ...

. 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,

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

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. Larg ...

. 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 reference line, or plumb-line. It is a precursor to the spirit level and used to establish a vertic ...

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 The Hudson River Museum, located in Trevor Park in Yonkers, New York, is the largest museum in Westchester County. The Yonkers Museum, founded in 1919 at City Hall, became the Hudson River Museum in 1948. While often considered an art museum by th ...

, Schwebler recreated of the art studios for sculptors

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

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

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being o ...

Alberto Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draftsman and printmaker. Beginning in 1922, he lived and worked mainly in Paris but regularly visited his hometown Borgonovo to see his family an ...

(''Giacometti’s Table

here Painting Meets Sculpture Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Technologies, Here Television * Here TV (form ...

', 1981), David Smith and

Constantin Brancusi Constantin is an Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian and Romanian male given name. It can also be a surname. For a list of notable people called Constantin, see Constantine (name). See also * Constantine (name) * Konstantin The first name Konsta ...

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