Collecting as a family matter. (Sammeln als Familiensache). Kathrin Luz in conversation with Carolin Scharpff-Striebich, Sammlung Scharpff / Offenes Depot, Bonn. (In German language, English subtitles available).

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The Scharpff Collection was established in the eighties by husband and wife team Rudolf (who died in May 2019) and Ute Scharpff. Initially, the collection focused on Graffiti and socially-messaged painting. Later the focus shifted towards abstract and figurative painting. The collection currently includes works by internationally recognized artists from Germany, the UK and the US.

The younger daughter of the art-collecting couple, Carolin Scharpff-Striebich, took over in 2004 the directorship of the Scharpff Collection. Since the death of Rudolf Scharpff Carolin is also the Director of the Family Foundation. She studied business administration in her native Germany, the United States as well as in France. From the late 1980s through the early 2000s, Carolin worked in the pharmaceutical industry while teaching International Marketing at the University of Applied Science in Karlsruhe. In addition to her family collection, Carolin is also collector of contemporary art and the editor of “Let’s Talk Abstract” and “André Butzer. By Sammlung Scharpff.” She is also a member of the North American Acquisition Committee of the Tate Modern in London and the International Committee of the Musée d’art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. She is also on the boards of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Bonn and in the Art Collectors Association in Berlin as well as on the board of trustees of the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.

Ten years ago, the collection was structured into a ‘cooperative storage’ model (Offenes Depot). This means that works from the collection are shared among a few selected museums, allowing them to work with art following their ideas and according to their wishes.