The Alte Nationalgalerie on Berlin's Museum Island is currently hosting a spectacular exhibition featuring over 150 works from the prestigious Scharf Collection, marking a rare public display of one of Germany's most significant private art collections. The exhibition, titled "The Scharf Collection," showcases French art from the 19th and early 20th centuries, collected by René and Christiane Scharf who have carefully expanded upon the foundation laid by René's great-grandfather Otto Gerstenberg.
The timing of this exhibition is particularly significant as the National Gallery prepares to celebrate its 150th anniversary next year. The Scharf couple, known for their generous lending practices but maintaining anonymity until now, have decided to step fully into the spotlight with this comprehensive display running until February 15, 2026. The exhibition operates Tuesday through Sunday from 10 AM to 6 PM, with a catalog available for 38 euros.
This presentation can be viewed as a posthumous triumph for Hugo von Tschudi, the former director who was once expelled by the Kaiser but had hoped to secure significant Impressionist works from wealthy collectors willing to make donations. While all parties involved remain open about whether the Scharfs might eventually follow in such noble footsteps, the current exhibition allows visitors to dream of such possibilities.
The exhibition brilliantly combines the private collection on the second upper floor with the museum's own holdings, creating an ideal complement between the two collections. The first hall, entirely dedicated to the private collection, presents one masterpiece after another. At the center, serving as a visual focal point, stands Pierre Bonnard's "The Large Bathtub" from 1937/39, representing a later generation of artists. To the left hang works by Claude Monet, ranging from the early "Farmhouse in Chailly" from 1867 to "Waterloo Bridge" from 1903, one of his rapidly executed London paintings capturing changing light conditions. The right wall features Paul Cézanne, one of the founding fathers of modernism, with the particularly beautiful "House with Red Roof" from 1890.
Otto Gerstenberg had a passion for color, and everything he acquired in painting is characterized by an emphasis on color. The second hall continues this theme, opening with Bonnard's view of the bustling Place de Clichy from 1906. Surrounding this are additional works by Bonnard, who consciously distanced himself from Impressionism while still inheriting its legacy.
A remarkable surprise awaits visitors in the right side hall, where nineteen small bronzes by Honoré Daumier stand on a curved pedestal. These are heads of parliamentarians from the July Monarchy beginning in 1830, featuring specifically named personalities who also represent types that the social critic typically exposed in his caricatures. Separately displayed under a glass dome stands the 1851 full figure of Ratapoil, a character Daumier invented as the archetype of the troublemaker, a constant presence in his drawings.
The collection also includes works by Eugène Delacroix, Camille Corot, and Gustave Courbet, covering 19th-century realism. Otto Gerstenberg and his descendants did not collect for completeness but rather gave free rein to their preferences. This approach resulted in what is likely the world's largest collection of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's print graphics, displayed in the small cabinets in the museum building's apse. The artist, who came from better social circles, repeatedly sought out the world of Parisian stages and brothels, not as a voyeur but as a participant, while simultaneously revolutionizing advertising graphics with his poster designs for the Moulin Rouge and the stage stars of his day.
The left side hall, dedicated to Cubism, surprises visitors with a very balanced collection of works by Picasso, Georges Braque, and Fernand Léger, though only the latter fulfills the collectors' preference for color. The latest Léger dates from 1951, when the third generation of collectors took over. This represents the generation in which the collection shown here separated from the surrealist-oriented Scharf-Gerstenberg collection, which has been on display in Charlottenburg for years.
The current collectors initially focused their attention on postwar abstraction dominated by American artists, with Sam Francis, a hero of the 1964 Documenta, again representing the primacy of color. More recently, Martin Eder and Daniel Richter have been added to the circle of artists, but especially Katharina Grosse.
What distinguishes a private collection is that it doesn't aim to be encyclopedic but rather reflects the collector's preferences. This explains the long side gallery featuring Goya's "Disasters of War," which stands somewhat errantly alongside the French art. However, this placement makes sense because Goya marks the beginning of the modern era to which the Scharf Collection was and remains committed. The exhibition continues to demonstrate how personal taste and scholarly vision can combine to create a collection that speaks to both individual passion and broader art historical significance.
