# Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection

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{{Short description|Art museum in Berlin}}
thumb|200px|East Stüler Building, home of the Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection since 2008
{{Location map|Berlin
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The '''Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection''' ('''{{langx|de|Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg}}''') is an art museum in [Berlin](/source/Berlin).  Its collection of paintings, graphics and sculptures, spanning the period from French [Romanticism](/source/Romanticism) to [Surrealism](/source/Surrealism), is currently housed in former rooms of the [Egyptian Museum](/source/Egyptian_Museum_of_Berlin) in [Charlottenburg](/source/Charlottenburg) on a ten-year loan.<ref>[http://www.hv.spk-berlin.de/deutsch/projekte/charlotenburg.php Projekte: Charlottenburg] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412185403/http://hv.spk-berlin.de/deutsch/projekte/charlotenburg.php |date=2010-04-12 }} [Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation](/source/Prussian_Cultural_Heritage_Foundation). {{in lang|de}}</ref>  It was founded in 2008, and is part of the [National Gallery of Berlin](/source/National_Gallery_(Berlin)).

==The foundation==

The works on display are owned by the ''Foundation of the Dieter Scharf Collection in Remembrance of Otto Gerstenberg''. [Otto Gerstenberg](/source/Otto_Gerstenberg) was an early 20th-century Berlin art collector, whose collection was partly destroyed and partly seized as [plunder](/source/Looting) (ending up in Russian museums) during the [war](/source/Second_World_War).<ref name=kuhn>[https://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/ausstellungen-alt/die-helle-seite-der-nacht/1276860.html Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg: Die helle Seite der Nacht] Nicola Kuhn, ''[Der Tagesspiegel](/source/Der_Tagesspiegel)'', 11 July 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2010. {{in lang|de}}</ref><ref name=focus>[http://www.focus.de/kultur/kunst/sammlung-scharf-gerstenberg-passion-fuer-die-fantasie_aid_316914.html Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg: Passion für die Fantasie] Gudrun Meyer, ''[Focus](/source/Focus_(German_magazine))'', 9 July 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2010. {{in lang|de}}</ref> 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.<ref>Steven Erlanger (March 30, 1995), [https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/30/arts/hermitage-in-its-manner-displays-its-looted-art.html Hermitage, in Its Manner, Displays Its Looted Art] ''[New York Times](/source/New_York_Times)''.</ref> The surviving artworks remained in family ownership and were inherited by his grandson, Dieter Scharf.<ref name=berlin>[https://www.berlin.de/ba-charlottenburg-wilmersdorf/bezirk/kultur/scharfgerstenberg.html Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg - Surreale Welten] State of Berlin homepage. {{in lang|de}}</ref>  This collection of [graphics](/source/Graphic_art) was to be the foundation of Scharf's own acquisitions,<ref name=berlin /> and in 2000 Scharf's collection was put on display in Berlin under the name "Surreal Worlds".<ref name=welt>[https://www.welt.de/wams_print/article2183042/Surreale_Welten_am_alten_Schloss.html Surreale Welten am alten Schloss] Gabriela Walde, ''[Die Welt](/source/Die_Welt)'', 6 July 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2010. {{in lang|de}}</ref>  Shortly before his death in 2001 he transferred these works to the new Foundation.<ref name=focus />  There is currently a ten-year loan agreement between this foundation and the [Berlin State Museums](/source/Berlin_State_Museums), while the [Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation](/source/Prussian_Cultural_Heritage_Foundation) has allowed it the use of the East Stüler Building in Charlottenburg.

==The building==
thumb|The Temple Gate of Kalabsha
The Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection is located on Schloßstraße, opposite the present-day [Berggruen Museum](/source/Berggruen_Museum) (in the West Stüler Building).  Both buildings are separated from [Charlottenburg Palace](/source/Charlottenburg_Palace) by the Spandau Dam.  They originate from designs by the Prussian king [Frederick William IV](/source/Frederick_William_IV), implemented by the architect [Friedrich August Stüler](/source/Friedrich_August_St%C3%BCler) from 1851 to 1859.  Both the Stüler Buildings originally served as officer barracks for the [Gardes du Corps](/source/Gardes_du_Corps_(Prussia)) regiment.<ref name=welt />  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.<ref name=welt />  From 2005 to 2008 they were renovated for future use by the Scharf-Gerstenberg Museum, under the architectural direction of Gregor Sunder-Plassmann.<ref name=welt />

==The collection==

The works inherited by Dieter Scharf from his grandfather's collection include graphics by [Goya](/source/Francisco_de_Goya),<ref name=focus /> [Hugo](/source/Victor_Hugo), [Klinger](/source/Max_Klinger), [Manet](/source/%C3%89douard_Manet), [Meryon](/source/Charles_Meryon)<ref name=focus /> and [Piranesi](/source/Giovanni_Battista_Piranesi).  The works by these artists formed the foundation on which Scharf built his own collection of [symbolist](/source/Symbolism_(arts)) and [surrealist](/source/surrealism) art.

Besides paintings by [Dalí](/source/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD), [Dubuffet](/source/Jean_Dubuffet), [Ernst](/source/Max_Ernst), [Magritte](/source/Ren%C3%A9_Magritte), [Masson](/source/Andr%C3%A9_Masson), [Moreau](/source/Gustave_Moreau), [Redon](/source/Odilon_Redon), [Rousseau](/source/Henri_Rousseau) and [Tanguy](/source/Yves_Tanguy), as well as sculptures by Ernst, [Laurens](/source/Henri_Laurens), [Lipchitz](/source/Jacques_Lipchitz) and [Tàpies](/source/Antoni_T%C3%A0pies), the key works of the collection are [graphics](/source/Graphic_art), following the example set by Gerstenberg.  Other artists in the collection include [Baumeister](/source/Willi_Baumeister), [Bellmer](/source/Hans_Bellmer), [Brauner](/source/Victor_Brauner), [Éluard](/source/Paul_%C3%89luard), [Ensor](/source/James_Ensor), [Giacometti](/source/Alberto_Giacometti), [Grosz](/source/George_Grosz), [Janssen](/source/Horst_Janssen), [Klee](/source/Paul_Klee), [Léger](/source/Fernand_L%C3%A9ger), [Miró](/source/Joan_Mir%C3%B3), [Munch](/source/Edvard_Munch), [Oelze](/source/Richard_Oelze), [Picabia](/source/Francis_Picabia), [Picasso](/source/Pablo_Picasso), [Schwitters](/source/Kurt_Schwitters), [Seurat](/source/Georges_Seurat), [Tobey](/source/Mark_Tobey), and [Wols](/source/Wols).

The Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection thematically complements the exhibition "Picasso and His Time" in the [Berggruen Museum](/source/Berggruen_Museum) located opposite.<ref>[http://abenteuer.wissen.de/wde/generator/wissen/ressorts/bildung/trainer/Trainer~20Vorschaltseite/Trainer~20Schule/index,page=4305836.html Museum Scharf-Gerstenberg] wissen.de. {{in lang|de}}</ref>  Some artists, such as Picasso, Klee and Giacometti, are featured in both collections.  The [Kalabsha Gate](/source/Temple_of_Kalabsha) and the columns from the ancient [Sahure](/source/Sahure) Temple, both owned by the Egyptian Museum, will also be on display in the Scharf-Gerstenberg Museum until the completion of the [Pergamon Museum](/source/Pergamon_Museum)'s fourth exhibition wing.<ref name=kuhn /><ref>[http://www.smb.museum/smb/news/details.php?lang=de&objID=19270 Eröffnung der Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg „Surreale Welten”] [Berlin State Museums](/source/Berlin_State_Museums), news. {{in lang|de}}</ref><ref>[http://www.smb.museum/smb/sammlungen/details.php?lang=de&objectId=12807&n=1&r=18 Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg] [Berlin State Museums](/source/Berlin_State_Museums). {{in lang|de}}</ref>

==Further reading==
* Karin Schick, Ulrich Luckhardt: ''Surreale Welten, Stiftung Sammlung Dieter Scharf zur Erinnerung an Otto Gerstenberg.'' Milan, 2000, {{ISBN|88-8118-696-9}}. {{in lang|de}}
* Melanie Franke, Silke Krohn and Dieter Scholz (editors): ''Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg in Berlin.'' Prestel, Munich, 2008, {{ISBN|3-7913-4029-8}}. {{in lang|de}}
* Melanie Franke, Dieter Scholz (editors): ''Surreale Welten Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg.'' Nicolai, Berlin, 2008, {{ISBN|978-3-89479-499-6}}. {{in lang|de}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Collection Scharf-Gerstenberg}}
* [https://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/sammlung-scharf-gerstenberg/home/ Homepage of the Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg Berlin State Museums website] {{in lang|en}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
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Category:Art museums and galleries in Berlin
Category:Buildings and structures in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf
Category:Art museums and galleries established in 2008
Category:2008 establishments in Germany
Category:Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Category:Former private collections
Category:Frederick William IV of Prussia

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scharf-Gerstenberg_Collection) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scharf-Gerstenberg_Collection?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.