The legs of the naked woman are stretched like those of a dancer, while the outlines of the room blur as if in a dream. The famous painting "The Large Bathtub" by Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) has arrived at Berlin's Alte Nationalgalerie. The masterpiece, created between 1937 and 1939, will serve as the opening highlight for the exhibition "The Scharf Collection: Goya, Monet, Cézanne, Bonnard, Grosse" on the first floor of the museum, which opens on October 24.

Berlin collector René Scharf, 69, is personally overseeing the installation of the exhibition. He shares fascinating details about the artwork: "Bonnard's bathtub is much smaller in real life. We actually visited his house in Le Canet and inspected it. It still exists." Scharf finds the perspective chosen by the Post-Impressionist painter particularly intriguing: "The bathtub tilts forward, almost out of the picture. And he could handle colors like hardly anyone else."

The Alte Nationalgalerie is showcasing 150 works from Scharf's collection. The nude woman depicted in the painting is Bonnard's wife Marthe, as the collector explains: "He often worked from memory. Marthe appears much younger in the painting than she actually was at the time he painted it. This is one of Bonnard's most important works overall." When asked about the painting's current market value, given his 20 years as an art dealer in New York, Scharf firmly states: "It is not for sale!"

The collection represents four generations of passionate art gathering. "The collection has developed over four generations; it is a total work of art," says René Scharf with pride. He comes from the renowned Scharf-Gerstenberg collector family. His uncle Dieter Scharf (1926-2001) had already provided his collection, focused on Surrealism, as a permanent loan to Berlin, which can be viewed in Charlottenburg's Stüler Building.

Before the exhibition opening, restoration experts Andrea von Hedenström and Elisabeth Schlesinger carefully examined the painting prior to hanging. The meticulous preparation reflects the significance of this rare public display of such masterpieces.

When asked whether Berlin can hope for a permanent loan of his collection, René Scharf smiles mysteriously: "There is no answer to that question. I can only say this much: we loan our paintings very often." After the Berlin exhibition concludes, the Bonnard painting will travel to Düsseldorf's Kunstpalast, where it will be displayed starting in March 2026.