Bernhard Luginbühl

Bernhard Luginbühl (16 February 1929 – 19 February 2011) was a Swiss sculptor known for monumental iron sculptures. Many were assembled from industrial scrap and drew on animal forms. He maintained a long-standing friendship with fellow Swiss artist Jean Tinguely. His work achieved international recognition, and he exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1956 and 1964 and at documenta in 1964 and 1977.

Biography Bernhard Luginbühl was born on 16 February 1929 in Bern. The son of a butcher from Bern’s Lorraine district, he repeatedly returned to animal subjects throughout his career, with large animals especially prominent in his work. From the 1980s, he sometimes produced iron sculptures with his sons Brutus, Basil and Iwan. His earliest surviving drawing, made in 1946, depicts a dinosaur. and at documenta III in Kassel in 1964. In 1967, his monumental sculpture Tell (1966) was shown at Expo 67 in Montreal as part of the Swiss Pavilion. By the early 1970s, retrospectives at several European museums and commissions from different continents had established his international reputation.

In 2000, works by Luginbühl, his wife Ursi and their sons Brutus, Basil and Iwan were presented in Sydney in a family exhibition running from 1 September to 29 October. Bernhard Luginbühl’s own contribution was Australian Angel, a six-metre metal sculpture installed beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Alongside his large iron sculptures, the park displays examples of his graphic work and documentation of his burning actions.

In 2004, the Museum Bernhard Luginbühl opened in Burgdorf’s former slaughterhouse, with the Verein Bernhard Luginbühl responsible for its operation. In 2019, Luginbühl’s heirs donated his diaries to the Graphic Collection of the Swiss National Library.

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