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00:00The human body, in motion or at rest, has long been the subject of artistic creation.
00:06The ancient Greeks venerated their athletes, as this exhibition at the Louvre explains.
00:12It takes visitors through the history of the Olympic Games, from its very first exploits
00:17to its carefully crafted trophies.
00:20Yet organised sporting activities weren't much of a topic for painters until the late
00:2519th century.
00:26At the Marmottan Museum, this show focuses on artwork from 1870 to 1930, as team sports,
00:33spectacular events and individual feats all became a larger part of daily life and as
00:38a result of the art that depicted it.
00:43It was innovative in terms of subject matter, because there's a distinction between professionals
00:48and amateurs, who are performing and enjoying themselves, and it's this joy, the joy of
00:53movement that you can see throughout the exhibition.
00:57At this point in history, increased leisure time for the working classes meant that sports
01:01were flourishing, venues for these events were being built and the competitive element
01:06became codified, with regulations and the establishment of leagues and prizes.
01:12Women started getting involved too, although they were still expected to maintain a certain
01:16idealised image while exerting themselves.
01:20They're playing in a very unrealistic way, if you look at their posture, but also at
01:25the outfits they're wearing, their hairstyles.
01:28These are very elegant young women, so it's not a realistic picture if you think about
01:31tennis players today.
01:34New practices and a thirst for victory came with a desire to surpass one's limits.
01:40That idea of optimising human performance informs this exhibition at Paris' Musée de
01:46Luxembourg.
01:47It showcases the innovations in design that have pushed sports forward.
01:53The more technologically advanced a ball is, the lighter it is, the better it is to play
01:58with, you can make it travel further, etc.
02:01So what's great here is that these iconic objects from the world of sports have been
02:06captured and improved thanks to progress in design.
02:12Looking back at those leaps and bounds in design also gives us a glimpse of the future
02:18of sport at a time when artificial intelligence could be pushing human bodies out of the race
02:22while technology shapes tomorrow's athletes and their disciplines.