Art competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics explained

Art competitions were held as part of the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, Great Britain. Medals were awarded in five categories (architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture), for works inspired by sport-related themes.^[1]

The art exhibition was held at the Victoria and Albert Museum from 15 July to 14 August, and displayed works of art from 27 different countries. The literature competition attracted 44 entries, and the music competition had 36 entries.^[2]

The art competitions included multiple subcategories for each of the five artistic categories.^[3] The judges declined to award any medals for dramatic works in literature, and no gold medals in another five subcategories. Alex Diggelmann of Switzerland won both a silver medal and a bronze medal for two different entries in the applied arts and crafts subcategory, a feat unlikely to be duplicated in any event in the current Olympic program.

These were the last Games in which art competitions were held, after being in the official program for all Games since 1912.^[4] At a meeting of the International Olympic Committee in 1949 it was decided to hold art exhibitions instead, as it was judged illogical to permit professionals to compete in the art competitions while only amateurs were permitted to compete in sporting events.^[5] Since 1952 a non-competitive art and cultural festival has been associated with each Games.

Architecture

Architectural design	"Skisprungschanze auf dem Kobenzl"	"Watersports Centre in Carinthia"	"Baths and Sporting Hall for Gothenburg"
Town planning	"The Centre of Athletics in Varkaus, Finland"	"Swiss Federal Sports and Gymnastics Training Centre"	"The Athletic Centre in Kemi, Finland"

Literature

Lyric works	"Laurel of Hellas"	"Six Poems"	"Rythme du Stade"
Dramatic works	none awarded	none awarded	none awarded
Epic works	"La Grotta"	"The Olympic Champion"	"The Well of Youth"

Music

Vocal	none awarded	none awarded	"Inno Olimpionico"
Instrumental and chamber	none awarded	"Divertimenti for Solo Flute and Strings"	"Toccata per Pianoforte"
Choral and orchestral	"Olympic Symphony"	"Karhunpyynti"	"Vigeur"

Painting and graphic art

Oils and water colours	"London Amateur Championships"	"Le Pistard"	"Meath Hunt Point-to-Point Races"
Engravings and etchings	"Swimming Pool"	"Polo Players"	"Seaside Sport"
Applied arts and crafts	none awarded	"World Championship for Cycling Poster"	"World Championship for Ice Hockey Poster"

Sculpture

Statues	"Homage to Ling"	"The Stag"	"Nageuse"
Reliefs	none awarded	none awarded	"The End of the Covert"
Medals and plaques	none awarded	"Eight Sports Plaques"	"Prize Rowing Trophy"

Medal table

At the time, medals were awarded to these artists, but art competitions are no longer regarded as official Olympic events by the International Olympic Committee. These events do not appear in the IOC medal database,^[6] and these totals are not included in the IOC's medal table for the 1948 Games.^[7]

Events summary

Architecture

Designs for Town Planning

The following architects took part:^[8]

Rank	Name	Country
1
2
3
AC

Architectural designs

The following architects took part:^[9]

Rank	Name	Country
1
2
3
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC

Further entries

The following architects took part:^[10]

Rank	Name	Country
AC
AC	Wilhelm Andreas Herdey
AC
AC
AC	A. Tarık Eğrilmez
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC	Hans Janssen
AC	Walter van der Valk
AC
AC

Rank	Name	Country
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC	Predrag Kovačević
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC	Konstantinos Aslanidis

Rank	Name	Country
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC

Literature

Dramatic works

The following writers took part:^[11]

Rank	Name	Country
AC
AC
AC

Epic works

The following writers took part:^[12]

Rank	Name	Country
1
2
3
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC

Lyric works

The following writers took part:^[13]

Rank	Name	Country
1
2
3
AC
AC
AC	Walter Roberts
AC
AC	Michele Caballo Galleano
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC

Unknown event

The following writers took part:^[14]

Rank	Name	Country
AC	Geraldine Wright
AC
AC
AC

Music

Compositions for orchestra

The following composers took part:^[15]

Rank	Name	Country
1
2
3
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC

Instrumental and chamber

The following composers took part:^[16]

Rank	Name	Country
1	Not awarded
2
3
AC
AC	Mario Panunzi
AC
AC	James C. Flynn

Vocals

The following composers took part:^[17]

Rank	Name	Country
1	Not awarded
2	Not awarded
3
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC

Unknown event

The following composers took part:^[18]

Rank	Name	Country
AC
AC

Painting

Graphic arts

The following painters took part:^[19]

Rank	Name	Country
1
2
3
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC

Paintings

The following painters took part:^[20]

Rank	Name	Country
1
2
3
AC
AC	Aimé Thevenet
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC	Mimma Riccobaldi del Bava
AC	A. G. Chagale
AC
AC
AC
AC

Rank	Name	Country
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC

Rank	Name	Country
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC	Thomas Healy

Unknown event

The following painters took part:^[21]

Rank	Name	Country
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC

Rank	Name	Country
AC
AC	Eduard Matras
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC	Klaus Pachnicke
AC
AC

Rank	Name	Country
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC	A. Wynne-Rogers
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC

Applied arts

The following painters took part:^[22]

Rank	Name	Country
1	Not awarded
2
3
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC	Gertrude Poilschek
AC	Helena Stuliková
AC
AC

Rank	Name	Country
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC	H. E. Twaits
AC
AC

Rank	Name	Country
AC
AC	Johann Horvath
AC	Rudolf Terhes
AC	Lucien Bernier
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC	Yvon Lalande

Sculpture

Medals and plaques

The following sculptors took part:^[23]

Rank	Name	Country
1	Not awarded
2
3
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC

Reliefs

The following sculptors took part:^[24]

Rank	Name	Country
1	Not awarded
2	Not awarded
3

Statues

The following sculptors took part:^[25]

Rank	Name	Country
1
2
3
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC

Rank	Name	Country
AC	Odon Lallemand
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC	Edmondo Gigante
AC
AC

Rank	Name	Country
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC

Unknown event

The following sculptors took part:^[26]

Rank	Name	Country
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC

Rank	Name	Country
AC
AC	Robert Allan Miller
AC
AC
AC	V. Robinson Hodge
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC

Rank	Name	Country
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC
AC	W. G. Webb
AC

Notes and References

Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics . Olympedia . 20 August 2020 .
Book: The Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad . . Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad . London . 1951 . 195–198, 535–537 . PDF . 25 March 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080408185653/http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1948/OR1948.pdf. 8 April 2008 . live.
Web site: Olympic Art Competition 1948 London . Olympic Games Museum . Wagner, Juergen . 26 March 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080216203615/http://www.olympic-museum.de/art/1948.htm . 16 February 2008 . dead .
In Search of the Lost Champions of the Olympic Art Contests . Kramer . Bernhard . Journal of Olympic History . 12 . 2 . May 2004 . 29–34 . PDF . 25 March 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080410082301/http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/JOH/JOHv12n2/johv12n2m.pdf. 10 April 2008 . live.
Report on Art Exhibitions . Bolanaki . A. . Bulletin du Comité International Olympique . 27 . June 1951 . 34 . International Olympic Committee . Lausanne . PDF . 26 March 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080410082302/http://www.la84foundation.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1951/BDCE27/BDCE27l.pdf. 10 April 2008 . live.
Web site: Olympic Medal Winners . International Olympic Committee . 26 March 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080328072243/http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/results/search_r_uk.asp . 28 March 2008 . live .
Web site: London 1948 Medal Table . International Olympic Committee . 26 March 2008.
Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Architecture, Designs For Town Planning, Open . Olympedia . 20 August 2020.
Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Architecture, Architectural Designs, Open . Olympedia . 20 August 2020.
Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Architecture, Further Entries, Open . Olympedia . 20 August 2020.
Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Literature, Dramatic Works, Open . Olympedia . 21 August 2020.
Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Literature, Epic Works, Open . Olympedia . 21 August 2020.
Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Literature, Lyric Works, Open . Olympedia . 21 August 2020.
Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Literature, Unknown Event, Open . Olympedia . 21 August 2020.
Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Music, Compositions For Orchestra, Open . 21 August 2020.
Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Music, Instrumental And Chamber, Open . 21 August 2020.
Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Music, Vocals, Open . 21 August 2020.
Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Music, Unknown Event, Open . 21 August 2020.
Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Painting, Graphic Arts, Open . Olympedia . 22 August 2020.
Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Painting, Paintings, Open . Olympedia . 22 August 2020.
Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Painting, Unknown Event, Open . Olympedia . 24 August 2020.
Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Painting, Applied Arts, Open . Olympedia . 25 August 2020.
Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Sculpturing, Medals And Plaques, Open . 26 August 2020.
Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Sculpturing, Reliefs, Open . 26 August 2020.
Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Sculpturing, Statues, Open . 26 August 2020.
Web site: Art Competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics: Sculpturing, Unknown Event, Open . 27 August 2020.