Who's who of French artists in focus as a major private art collection goes on show in Berlin

BERLIN (AP) — A major German private art collection accumulated over four generations is going on large-scale show for the first time in Berlin, with a who's who of French art of the 19th and 20th centuries at its core.

The Scharf Collection has its roots in a collection started more than a century ago by Otto Gerstenberg, who led a Berlin life insurance company. It's now in the hands of Gerstenberg's great-grandson, René Scharf, and his wife, Christiane, who have expanded it further into contemporary art.

The roughly 150 works going on show this week at Berlin's Alte Nationalgalerie range in time from the early 19th century, with plates from Spanish master Francisco de Goya's series “The Disasters of War” and “La Tauromaquia,” to modern abstract works by German artists Katharina Grosse and Anselm Reyle. Compositions by Sam Francis and Jasper Johns bring an American element to the collection.

“We go from Goya to Grosse,” René Scharf said as the exhibition was presented Wednesday. He said that he has a particular passion for impressionism, cubism and contemporary art, and hopes visitors who see Grosse's shimmering pink and blue “No title” at the end of the show will see a connection to Claude Monet's impressionist “Waterloo Bridge” from nearly a century earlier.

At the heart of the collection are works by many of the biggest names in French art of the past two centuries. Visitors progress from the romantic paintings of Eugène Delacroix to the realist work of Gustave Courbet and the caricatures of Honoré Daumier, including a series of busts of French lawmakers by the latter.

One of Claude Monet's earlier, realist works, “Farmyard in Chailly," is displayed alongside later impressionist paintings such as “Steep Cliffs near Dieppe” and one of his “Waterloo Bridge” series. There are works on paper and canvas by Auguste Renoir and Paul Cézanne, complemented by nudes and dancers by Edgar Degas.

Two of Pierre Bonnard's major works are prominently displayed — the lively and playful “Place Clichy,” depicting a Paris square close to his studio, and “The Large Bathtub,” portraying the artist's wife. They're shown close to pieces by his close friend Henri Matisse as the exhibition heads toward the cubism and the modern day with work from Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger and others.

Gerstenberg had accumulated a large collection of work by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec by the time he died in 1935 and a selection from that is a centerpiece of the show. There are lithographs from his “Elles” series, based on his observations of sex workers in everyday poses, and posters advertising stars of concert cafes and variety theaters.

Scharf said that, after the Alte Nationalgalerie approached him about showing the collection, “we asked ourselves what happens if we do nothing? Then maybe 30, 40 or 50 people per year will see the collection and only a very small part of it, because we can't hang everything at home.”

Individual paintings have been loaned to many exhibitions over time, “but at some point we said, ‘no, the collection deserves to be seen publicly,’” he said.

“The Scharf Collection. Goya — Monet — Cézanne — Bonnard — Grosse” opens to the public on Friday and will run until Feb. 15. It will be followed by another exhibition at Düsseldorf's Kunstpalast, running from March to August 2026, which will feature some of the same work.

Fanny Brodersen contributed to this report.

A visitor photographs the painting titled "Place Clichy" from 1867-1947 by Pierre Bonnard at a press preview for the exhibition "The Scharf Collection: Goya – Monet – Cezanne – Bonnard – Grosse" at the Alte Nationalgalerie museum in Berlin, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Maryam Majd)

A visitor looks at a paintings with Pierre Bonnard's "Place Clichy" on the right, during a press preview of the exhibition "The Scharf Collection: Goya – Monet – Cezanne – Bonnard – Grosse" at the Alte Nationalgalerie museum in Berlin, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Maryam Majd)

A visitor looks on the painting titled "Woman with Hand Mirror, plate 6 " from 1864-1901 by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec at a press preview for the exhibition "The Scharf Collection: Goya – Monet – Cezanne – Bonnard – Grosse" at the Alte Nationalgalerie museum in Berlin, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Maryam Majd)

A visitor looks on the painting Lagoon on the Seine, left, and White Boots from Pierre Bonnard at a press preview for the exhibition "The Scharf Collection: Goya – Monet – Cezanne – Bonnard – Grosse" at the Alte Nationalgalerie museum in Berlin, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Maryam Majd)

Journalists walks next to the painting "Place Clichy" from 1867-1947 by Pierre Bonnard during the press preview for the exhibition "The Scharf Collection: Goya – Monet – Cezanne – Bonnard – Grosse" at the Alte Nationalgalerie museum in Berlin, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Maryam Majd)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are hanging near their records Wednesday as oil prices fall and ease the pressure on households and businesses worldwide.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% below its all-time high set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 183 points, or 0.4%, as of 12:56 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% lower.

Stocks of companies with big fuel bills helped lead the way on hopes that lower oil prices will remove a big drag on their profits. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings climbed 5.7%, and United Airlines rallied 7.3%. Delta Air Lines rose 3.7% and is on track to set an all-time high.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil fell 4.1% to $95.48 after the ceasefire between the United States and Iran appeared to hold despite the U.S. military launching what it called “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude fell even more, 4.2%, to $89.69 on hopes that the United States and Iran can reach an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and allow oil tankers to exit the Persian Gulf for deliveries again.

Stocks have been able to run to records despite the painful inflation and uncertainty caused by high oil prices largely because companies have reported surprisingly strong profits for the start of 2026, and the forecast is for them to continue.

Bath & Body Works rallied 11.2%, and Abercrombie & Fitch climbed 11.8% after both reported bigger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. That's even as U.S. consumers continue to say they're feeling discouraged about the economy and inflation.

Lululemon Athletica rose 3.6% after reaching a deal with its founder, Chip Wilson, where it will add a former chief marketing officer of ESPN and a former co-CEO of On to its board of directors.

On the losing side of Wall Street was Dick's Sporting Goods, which dropped 4.9% despite delivering a profit for the latest quarter that edged past expectations. Analysts pointed to how much profit it wrung out of each $1 in revenue, which some called a bit weak.

Oil-and-gas stocks also sank, hurt by the dropping prices for crude. Exxon Mobil fell 1.4%, and Chevron slipped 0.8%. Halliburton dropped 3% to bring its gain for the year so far back toward 40%.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased after falling oil prices took pressure off inflation. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.48% from 4.50% late Tuesday and from 4.67% roughly a week ago.

It’s a respite following recent gains for yields in bond markets worldwide, which threatened to slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments. High yields have already forced the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate to its most expensive level since last summer, and they could curtail companies’ borrowing to build the artificial-intelligence data centers that have supported the U.S. economy’s growth recently.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia. South Korea's Kospi was one of the world's best performers and jumped 2.3% after SK Hynix, which is a big beneficiary of the artificial-intelligence boom, soared 9.3%.

A day before, Micron Technology surged to become the latest Big Tech company to be worth more than $1 trillion on AI excitement. Its stock has more than tripled already in 2026, and analysts at UBS said Tuesday it could soar even more because of how fundamentally AI has improved demand for computer memory.

AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

Trader Edward Curran, left, and specialist Meric Greenbaum, center, work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, May 25, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A dealer walks past near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer walks past near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer walks past near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer stands near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)