Yuri Schwebler
Born(1942-11-21)November 21, 1942
Feketić, Yugoslavia
DiedMarch 3, 1990(1990-03-03) (aged 47)
Marlborough, New York, U.S.
Other namesGeorge Schwebler
EducationMcDaniel College
Occupation(s)conceptual artist, sculptor
SpouseJoanne Hedge (m. 1968–1970; divorce)

Yuri "George" Schwebler (1942–1990), was a Yugoslavia-born American conceptual artist and sculptor.[1][2] He was active in the arts in the 1970s in Washington, D.C., and most notably in February 1974, he transformed the Washington Monument into a sundial.[1][3] He showed his work at the Jefferson Place Gallery.[4]

Biography

Yuri Schwebler was born on November 21, 1942, in Feketić, Yugoslavia (now Serbia), and raised in West Germany.[1][5][6] At the time of his birth and early childhood, Nazi Germany occupied Yugoslavia.[7] In 1956, he emigrated and moved with his family to Wilmington, Delaware.[1] He graduated from Warner Junior High School and Seaford High School (in 1962) in Delaware.[6]

He attended Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College).[5] In 1965, Schwebler was drafted in to the United States Army Reserve.[7] After his discharge from the U.S. Army, he started using the anglicized name George Schwebler.[7] By 1967, he moved to Washington, D.C.[7] He had been married to Joanne Hedge from 1968 to 1970.[7] Together they moved to Marin County, California, and for a time he worked at the Sausalito Art Center.[7] When the marriage dissolved in March 1970, he spent two months at the Mendocino State Hospital before returning to Washington, D.C.[7]

He moved to New York in 1980, and stopped making art around 1981.[1][8]

Death and legacy

Schwebler died at age 47 on March 3, 1990, in Marlborough, New York by suicide and carbon monoxide poisoning.[1][9] He was survived by his partner, artist Enid Sanford, his mother Eva (née Lasi) Schwebler, and two sisters.[1][5][10]

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.[11][9]

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.[2] Other works include Range pole (1975) a plumb bob and a level placed in a glass and wood box;[2] 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.[5]

In a 1981 exhibition in the Hudson River Museum, Schwebler recreated of the art studios for sculptors Alexander Calder (In the Tracks of Calder), Piet Mondrian, Alberto Giacometti (Giacometti’s Table [Where Painting Meets Sculpture], 1981), David Smith and Constantin Brancusi but adding his own creativity on some of them.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pearson, Richard (1990-03-05). "Yuri Schwebler, D.C. Artist In 1970S, Dies". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Caldwell, John (1981-11-15). "Art: Thought-Provoking Work at the Hudson". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  3. ↑ Meyer, Robinson (2014-05-23). "Did You Ever Notice the Washington Monument Is a Sundial on Google Maps?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  4. ↑ "Archives Directory for the History of Collecting, Jefferson Place Gallery". The Frick Collection. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Folk, Juli (2019-10-03). "Phillips Flashback: Conceptual Artist Yuri Schwebler". The Experiment Station. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  6. 1 2 "Obituary: Yuri Schwebler, Artist, Attended Del. Schools". Newspapers.com. The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware. March 7, 1990. p. 16. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Yuri Schwebler, Spiritual Plane (art exhibition). Alper Initiative For Washington Art, American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, John James Anderson (curator). 2020.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. ↑ Anderson, John (January 25, 2017). "The Missing Archive of Yuri Schwebler". International Sculpture Center.
  9. 1 2 "City Lights: Sit with Yuri Schwebler's Spiritual Art or Probe Your Psyche with Project Implicit". Washington City Paper. 2020-08-03. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  10. ↑ "Eva Schwebler Obituary (2010) The News Journal". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  11. ↑ "Yuri Schwebler: The Spiritual Plane". American University. 2020. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
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