Leatherstocking

History of the work

Next to the covered main entrance of the Steckgut school at Lorrainestrasse 84, a large relief by Serge Brignoni, made between 1955 and 1959, hangs on the east façade. It shows a scene from the Leatherstocking novels by the American writer James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851). Wikidata gives a height of 205 centimetres and a width of 186 centimetres. The city’s register lists the material as copper, steel and tin-lead solder, whereas a city report from 2023 speaks of bronze.

The link to Cooper has to do with the house. The building was a tenant house of the Lorraine estate dating from the 18th century and was converted into a school in 1951/52. According to the city’s building inventory, Cooper lived in this house around 1830 and is said to have worked on his stories of Native Americans here. The city council’s report on the renovation gives a different tradition: Cooper is said to have rented the Villa Lorraine for a few months, which today houses a day-care centre.

Brignoni (1903–2002) was born in Ticino; the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland names San Simone near Vacallo, SIKART names Chiasso. In 1907 the family moved to Bern. He studied in Berlin and Paris, was close to the Surrealists and in 1933 was one of the founders of the Gruppe 33. In 1940 he had to leave France and returned to Bern. Later he received commissions for murals and large sculptures; for the national exhibition Expo 64 he made “Die vier Landessprachen” (The Four National Languages), a sculpture in iron. In 1985 he gave his collection of non-European art to the city of Lugano.

For the full renovation of the school the city council requested a building credit of 8.4 million francs; the work ran from summer 2022 to autumn 2023. The relief stayed in place and was to be restored by a specialist. A new panel beside it now explains the origin and background of the work; it is worth reading before taking a closer look at the scene in the relief.

Researched and summarised by Bärn Kit. Sources: Kultur Stadt Bern, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (offene Daten) · Wikipedia (de): Serge Brignoni · HLS: Manuela Kahn-Rossi, Brignoni, Serge · SIKART: Manuela Kahn-Rossi, Serge Brignoni · Bauinventar Stadt Bern: Lorrainestrasse 84 (Schulhaus Steckgut) · Stadt Bern: Vortrag des Gemeinderats, Gesamtsanierung Volksschule Steckgut · Stadt Bern: Projektdokumentation Gesamtsanierung Steckgut · plattformj.ch: Schulhaus Steckgut erstrahlt in neuer Pracht (22.9.2023) · Wikidata: Lederstrumpf (Q85436103)