Art competitions at the Summer Olympics
Medals were awarded for works of art inspired by sport, divided into five categories: architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture,[1] which led to the events' initial moniker of "Pentathlon of the Muses.
Art exhibitions replaced the competitions in the following years, and since 1956, host nations have organized Cultural Olympiads at their own discretion.
In 1904, De Coubertin wrote the following in the French newspaper Le Figaro: "The time has come to take the next step, and to restore the Olympiad to its original beauty.
In the high times of Olympia, the fine arts were combined harmoniously with the Olympic Games to create their glory.
The meeting ended with a proposal to the IOC to organise artistic competitions at the Olympic Games in five areas (architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture).
[4] Pierre de Coubertin was not discouraged, and sought to include the artistic events in the programme of the 1912 Summer Olympics, to be held in Stockholm, Sweden.
The number of entrants was rather disappointing: only 35 artists are known to have sent works of art to Sweden, but gold medals were awarded in all five categories.
The growth continued at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, where over 1,100 works of art were exhibited in the Municipal Museum, not including the submissions in literature, music and architecture.
Art contests were also held in Berlin (1936) and London (1948), with reasonable success, although the number of entered works had significantly dropped by 1948.
Two famous works that historians have been unable to find include "A Rider’s Instructions to His Lover" by the German poet Rudolf Binding, which won the silver medal in literature at the 1928 Amsterdam Games, and "Before the Gods of Olympia" by the French rugby player Charles Gonnet.
[6] Specific rules and categories of the art competitions varied between each of the Olympic Games, but the core guidelines remained the same.
Entered works were limited in length (20,000 words) and could be submitted in any language, provided they were accompanied by English and/or French translations or summaries (rules varied over the years).
Because of the requirement that literary entries had to be about sport, the competition failed to attract most of the leading poets and writers of the time.
While several of the Olympic art medalists have achieved at least national fame, few of them can be considered well-known artists globally.
Walter W. Winans, an American who lived in England, won a gold medal as a marksman at the 1908 Summer Olympics in the running deer (double shot) competition.
Twenty-eight years later, he was awarded a silver medal in architecture for his stadium design, co-designed with Dezső Lauber.
In 1912 Pierre de Coubertin, under the pseudonym "Georges Hohrod and Martin Eschbach", entered Ode to sport, which won a gold medal in literature.
[11] Avery Brundage, who competed as an athlete at the 1912 Games, entered literary works at the 1932 and 1936 Olympics, earning an honorary mention in 1932.
Britain's John Copley, winner of a silver medal in the 1948 engravings and etchings competition, was 73 years of age, making him the oldest Olympic medallist in history.
