“The last pages of my journal urge me to do exactly that which I am doing right now: go out to nature. And perhaps the days of self-redemption have gone by? This land is not my own. Neither are the States. Could nature save me? Is it not the place of my ancestors?” (Work Journal)

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The paintings presented in this section are a selection of works from different periods of Schwebel’s life, featuring nature as a principle subject matter.

Schwebel arrived in Ein-Karem in 1963, when he was 31. The Judean hills provided both a home and a profound source of inspiration for his work. Although the above journal entry appears in his last work journal, nature was dominant throughout Schwebel’s life. It symbolizes, as he himself notes, a savior, a Safe Place (as he titled his last series of works).

From Jerusalem landscapes viewed from his studio to early depictions of Japanese mountain slopes, Schwebel found nature to be comforting and confronting simultaneously: as he perceives a warrior camouflaged as a pinecone, while the stones around it seem to be suspicious; as he notices the presence of the muse amongst the trees of Nahal Sorek, in his search for warmth and compassion; or as he observes biblical figures such as David or Saul, appearing on one of the terraces surrounding his home.
 

Photography by: Michael Amar