The Art of Museums: Musée d'Orsay in Paris with Sasha Waltz

On the banks of the Seine lies the Musée d'Orsay. Just as Paris is considered the origin of modernism, the Musée d'Orsay is the museum for modern art. It houses a unique collection of artworks from the period between 1850 and the mid-first decade of the 20th century. This collection is one of the most important treasures of French cultural heritage. Masterpieces of Impressionist painting hang alongside sculptures by Rodin and Degas. Photographs, prints and decorative arts are also part of the collection. No other building would be more fitting for this collection than the former Gare d'Orsay train station. Opened for the 1900 World's Fair, the building is a work of art in itself and a symbol of the driving forces of modernity. Sasha Waltz, choreographer and co-director of the Berlin State Ballet, enters into a dialogue with the works of the fin de siècle at the Musée d'Orsay, with Monet's blue water lilies, Toulouse-Lautrec's tired dancers and prostitutes, Edouard Manet's scandalous “Olympia” and Gustave Courbet's “Origin of the World”. For director Laurence des Cars, the Musée d'Orsay is like a dream machine, “a bit like Jules Verne: it's about fantasy, about dreams, about being free.” The documentary shows the most important works of art, looks with restorers under the layers of paint on Impressionist masterpieces and delves into the history of the house. It shows the museum as a reflection of the artistic and social achievements of an era that still shape the French self-image today.