Renoir, Monet and Cézanne in Genoa: the Scharf Collection at the Doge's Palace

Genoa opens the autumn cultural season with a major exhibition dedicated to the Scharf Collection, one of the most important German private collections. From 16 October 2026 to 2 May 2027, the Doge's Palace hosts "Renoir, Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Cézanne. 200 years of art from the Scharf Collection", bringing to Italy for the first time over 140 works belonging to a collection that has long remained confidential. 

Curated by Ilaria Bonacossa, director of the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa, the exhibition spans two centuries of art history and brings together some of the fundamental protagonists of European painting. Alongside the four artists who give the exhibition its title, the itinerary includes works by Goya, Corot, Bonnard, Matisse, Léger, Tony Cragg and Katharina Grosse, building an itinerary that goes from Realism and Impressionism to Cubism and contemporary art. 

A private collection through four generations

 

The exhibition also allows you to discover the history of the Scharf Collection, born from the legacy of the famous Berlin collection of Otto Gerstenberg, dedicated to the pioneers of Modernism and the French avant-garde. During the Second World War, his daughter Margarethe Scharf managed to save the main nucleus of the collection. 

 

Subsequent generations progressively broadened its horizons: Walter Scharf, together with his wife Eve and son René, developed the French section in particular by introducing works by Monet, Cézanne, Matisse and Picasso. 

 

Today, René and Christiane Scharf continue this tradition by also turning to modern and contemporary art, with artists such as Sam Francis, Sean Scully, Daniel Richter and Katharina Grosse. 

 

The result is a collection capable of telling not only the evolution of painting, but also the history of European collecting in the twentieth century, following the passage from one generation to the next and the progressive expansion of the family's artistic interests.

One more reason to visit Genoa in autumn

The exhibition is also an opportunity to plan a cultural weekend in Genoa during autumn and winter. Palazzo Ducale is located in Piazza Giacomo Matteotti, in the heart of the historic center and a few steps from Piazza De Ferrari, the Cathedral of San Lorenzo and the alleys of the ancient center. A visit to the exhibition can therefore become the starting point to discover the Palazzi dei Rolli, the Porto Antico and the historical heritage of the city, combining art, architecture and gastronomy in a city break.

In the autumn, the cultural offer of the Doge's Palace will be particularly rich: from 25 September to 8 December 2026 , the 2026 edition of the World Press Photo is also scheduled, which will precede and subsequently accompany the exhibition of the Scharf Collection.