The Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection (german: Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg) is an art museum in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
. Its collection of paintings, graphics and sculptures, spanning the period from French
Romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
to
Surrealism, is currently housed in former rooms of the
Egyptian Museum
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or the Cairo Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display a ...
in
Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia, it is best known for Charlottenburg Palace, the ...
on a ten-year loan. It was founded in 2008, and is part of the
National Gallery of Berlin
The National Gallery (german: Nationalgalerie) in Berlin, Germany, is a museum for art of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. It is part of the Berlin State Museums. From the Alte Nationalgalerie, which was built for it and opened in 1876, its exh ...
.
The foundation
The works on display are owned by the ''Foundation of the Dieter Scharf Collection in Remembrance of Otto Gerstenberg''.
Otto Gerstenberg
Otto Gerstenberg (11 September 1848 – 24 April 1935) was a German entrepreneur, mathematician and an early 20th-century Berlin art collector.
Life
In his childhood Gerstenberg lived in Pyritz. Gerstenberg studied mathematics and philosoph ...
was an early 20th-century Berlin art collector, whose collection was partly destroyed and partly seized as
plunder (ending up in Russian museums) during the
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
.
[Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg: Die helle Seite der Nacht]
Nicola Kuhn, ''Der Tagesspiegel
''Der Tagesspiegel'' (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington D.C. and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, ...
'', 11 July 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2010. [Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg: Passion für die Fantasie]
Gudrun Meyer, ''Focus
Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to:
Arts
* Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film
*''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore
* ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...
'', 9 July 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2010. After Gerstenberg's death in 1935, his paintings went to his daughter, Margarete Scharf, who stored most in the bunker of the Nationalgalerie in Berlin during the war. These were taken to the Soviet Union. But some were put in storage and burned in an air raid. The surviving artworks remained in family ownership and were inherited by his grandson, Dieter Scharf.
[Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg - Surreale Welten]
State of Berlin homepage. This collection of
graphics
Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...
was to be the foundation of Scharf's own acquisitions,
and in 2000 Scharf's collection was put on display in Berlin under the name "Surreal Worlds".
[Surreale Welten am alten Schloss]
Gabriela Walde, ''Die Welt
''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE.
''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter All ...
'', 6 July 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2010. Shortly before his death in 2001 he transferred these works to the new Foundation.
There is currently a ten-year loan agreement between this foundation and the
Berlin State Museums
The Berlin State Museums (german: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) are a group of institutions in Berlin, Germany, comprising seventeen museums in five clusters, several research institutes, libraries, and supporting facilities. They are overseen ...
, while the
Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (german: Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz; SPK) is a German federal government body that oversees 27 museums and cultural organizations in and around Berlin, Germany. Its purview includes all of Berlin's ...
has allowed it the use of the East Stüler Building in Charlottenburg.
The building
The Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection is located on Schloßstraße, opposite the present-day
Berggruen Museum
The Berggruen Museum (also known as the Berggruen Collection) is a collection of modern art classics in Berlin, which the collector and dealer Heinz Berggruen, in a "gesture of reconciliation", gave to his native city. The most notable artists ...
(in the West Stüler Building). Both buildings are separated from
Charlottenburg Palace
Schloss Charlottenburg (Charlottenburg Palace) is a Baroque palace in Berlin, located in Charlottenburg, a district of the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough.
The palace was built at the end of the 17th century and was greatly expanded during th ...
by the Spandau Dam. They originate from designs by the Prussian king
Frederick William IV
Frederick William IV (german: Friedrich Wilhelm IV.; 15 October 17952 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 to his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to ...
, implemented by the architect
Friedrich August Stüler
Friedrich August Stüler (28 January 1800 – 18 March 1865) was an influential Prussian architect and builder. His masterpiece is the Neues Museum in Berlin, as well as the dome of the triumphal arch of the main portal of the Berliner Schloss.
...
from 1851 to 1859. Both the Stüler Buildings originally served as officer barracks for the
Gardes du Corps
A ''Garde du Corps'' (French for lifeguard) is a military unit, formed of guards. A ''Garde du Corps'' was first established in France in 1445. From the 17th century onwards, the term was used in several German states and also, for example, in ...
regiment.
The East Building is part of the old Marstall Building (constructed 1855-58 by Wilhelm Drewitz), and together these two housed the Egyptian Museum between 1967 and 2005.
From 2005 to 2008 they were renovated for future use by the Scharf-Gerstenberg Museum, under the architectural direction of Gregor Sunder-Plassmann.
The collection
The works inherited by Dieter Scharf from his grandfather's collection include graphics by
Goya
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...
,
Hugo
Hugo or HUGO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese
* Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback
* Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on ...
,
Klinger Klinger may refer to:
* Klinger (surname), a list of people with the surname
* Corporal Klinger, a character from ''M*A*S*H''
* Klinger (horse), owned by the US Army
* Klinger (band), an Australia band from 1996 to 2003
* Klinger Ridge, Marie Byrd ...
,
Manet
A wireless ad hoc network (WANET) or mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a decentralized type of wireless network. The network is ad hoc because it does not rely on a pre-existing infrastructure, such as routers in wired networks or access points ...
,
Meryon and
Piranesi. The works by these artists formed the foundation on which Scharf built his own collection of
symbolist and
surrealist
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...
art.
Besides paintings by
Dalí,
Dubuffet
Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet (31 July 1901 – 12 May 1985) was a French Painting, painter and sculpture, sculptor. His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so-called "low art" and eschewed traditional standards of beauty in favor of what ...
,
Ernst
Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
* Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst"
* Anton Ernst (1975-) ...
,
Magritte,
Masson,
Moreau,
Redon
Redon (; ) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.
Geography
Redon borders the Morbihan and Loire-Atlantique departments.
It is situated at the junction of t ...
,
Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...
and
Tanguy, as well as sculptures by Ernst,
Laurens,
Lipchitz and
Tàpies, the key works of the collection are
graphics
Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...
, following the example set by Gerstenberg. Other artists in the collection include
Baumeister,
Bellmer,
Brauner Brauner is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
People
*Artur Brauner (1918–2019), also called Atze Brauner, German film producer and entrepreneur
*Asher Brauner (born 1946), American actor
*Alfred Brauner (1910-2002), French-Austr ...
,
Éluard,
Ensor,
Giacometti
Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, Drafter, draftsman and Printmaking, printmaker. Beginning in 1922, he lived and worked mainly in Paris but regularly visited his hometown Borgonovo, ...
,
Grosz,
Janssen,
Klee
Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...
,
Léger,
Miró,
Munch,
Oelze,
Picabia
Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, poet and typographist. After experimenting with Impressionism and Pointillism, Picabia became associated with Cubism ...
,
Picasso,
Schwitters,
Seurat
Georges Pierre Seurat ( , , ; 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891) was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough su ...
,
Tobey, and
Wols
Wols was the pseudonym of Alfred Otto Wolfgang Schulze (27 May 19131 September 1951), a German painter and photographer predominantly active in France. Though broadly unrecognized in his lifetime, he is considered a pioneer of lyrical abstracti ...
.
The Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection thematically complements the exhibition "Picasso and His Time" in the
Berggruen Museum
The Berggruen Museum (also known as the Berggruen Collection) is a collection of modern art classics in Berlin, which the collector and dealer Heinz Berggruen, in a "gesture of reconciliation", gave to his native city. The most notable artists ...
located opposite. Some artists, such as Picasso, Klee and Giacometti, are featured in both collections. The
Kalabsha Gate and the columns from the ancient
Sahure
Sahure (also Sahura, meaning "He who is close to Re") was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the second ruler of the Fifth Dynasty (c. 2465 – c. 2325 BC). He reigned for about 13 years in the early 25th century BC during the Old Kingdom Period. ...
Temple, both owned by the Egyptian Museum, will also be on display in the Scharf-Gerstenberg Museum until the completion of the
Pergamon Museum
The Pergamon Museum (; ) is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. It was built from 1910 to 1930 by order of German Emperor Wilhelm II according to plans by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann in Stripped Clas ...
's fourth exhibition wing.
Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg
Berlin State Museums
The Berlin State Museums (german: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) are a group of institutions in Berlin, Germany, comprising seventeen museums in five clusters, several research institutes, libraries, and supporting facilities. They are overseen ...
.
Further reading
* Karin Schick, Ulrich Luckhardt: ''Surreale Welten, Stiftung Sammlung Dieter Scharf zur Erinnerung an Otto Gerstenberg.'' Milan, 2000, .
* Melanie Franke, Silke Krohn and Dieter Scholz (editors): ''Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg in Berlin.'' Prestel, Munich, 2008, .
* Melanie Franke, Dieter Scholz (editors): ''Surreale Welten Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg.'' Nicolai, Berlin, 2008, .
External links
Homepage of the Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg Berlin State Museums website
Notes
{{authority control
Art museums and galleries in Berlin
Buildings and structures in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf
Art museums established in 2008
2008 establishments in Germany
Berlin State Museums
Former private collections