Two distinct styles are recognized in his art. Before 1900, Schwabe's paintings were more individual and experimental, indicating the idealism of the Symbolists; conventional, allegorical scenes from nature became more prominent in his later work. Images of women were important, sometimes representing death and suffering, other times creativity and guidance. His first wife was his model for angels and virgins, and "Death" in The Death of the Grave-Digger (1895) resembles her. The death of a close friend in 1894, when Schwabe was 17, spurred his interest in representing death.
Schwabe created a colour lithograph for the 1892 Salon de la Rose+Croix, the first of six exhibitions organized by Joséphin Péladan that demonstrated the Rosicrucian tendencies of French Symbolism. Schwabe's poster depicted in shades of blue an initiation rite—three women ascending toward spiritual salvation—and is an exemplar of Rosicrucian art.
References
Clement, Russell T. et al (2004). A Sourcebook of Gauguin's Symbolist Followers. Greenwood Publishing Group, 865–867. ISBN 0313312052.
Greenspan, Taube G. "Schwabe, Carlos." In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online (accessed May 26, 2008).
