There were 146 medalists in the art competitions that were part of the Olympic Games from 1912 until 1948. These art competitions were considered an integral part of the movement by International Olympic Committee (IOC) founder Pierre de Coubertin and necessary to recapture the complete essence of the Ancient Olympic Games. Their absence before the 1912 Summer Olympics, according to journalism professor Richard Stanton, stems from Coubertin "not wanting to fragment the focus of his new and fragile movement".[1] Art competitions were originally planned for inclusion in the 1908 Summer Olympics but were delayed after that edition's change in venue from Rome to London following the 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius.[2] By the 1924 Summer Olympics they had grown to be considered internationally relevant and potentially "a milestone in advancing public awareness of art as a whole".[3]
During their first three appearances, the art competitions were grouped into five broad categories: architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture. The Dutch Organizing Committee for the 1928 Summer Olympics split these into subcategories in the hopes of increasing participation.[4] Although it was a successful strategy, the 1932 Summer Olympics eliminated several of these subcategories, which led to fewer entries in the broader categories.[5] For the 1936 Summer Olympics, the German government proposed the addition of a film contest to the program, which was rejected.[6]
Following a final appearance at the 1948 Summer Olympics, art competitions were removed from the Olympic program. Planners of the 1952 Summer Olympics opposed their inclusion on logistical grounds, claiming that the lack of an international association for the event meant that the entire onus of facilitation was placed on the local organizing committee.[7] Concerns were also raised about the professionalism of the event, since only amateurs were allowed to participate in the sporting tournaments,[8] and the growing commercialization of the competitions, as artists had been permitted to sell their submissions during the course of the Games since 1928. In 1952 an art festival and exhibition was held concurrent with the Games, a tradition that has been maintained in all subsequent Summer Olympics.[9]
In 1952, art competition medals were removed from the official national medal counts.[10] The IOC does not track medalists in Olympic art competitions in its database and thus the prize winners are only officially recorded in the original Olympic reports. Judges were not required to distribute first, second, and third place awards for every category, and thus certain events lack medalists in these placements. Since participants were allowed multiple submissions, it was also possible for artists to win more than one in a single event, as Alex Diggelmann of Switzerland did in the graphic arts category of the 1948 edition.[11] Diggelmann is tied with Denmark's Josef Petersen, who won second prize three times in literature, for the number of medals captured in the art competitions. Luxembourg's Jean Jacoby is the only individual to win two gold medals, doing so in painting in 1924 and 1928. Of the 146 medalists, 11 were women and only Finnish author Aale Tynni was awarded gold. Germany was the most successful nation, with eight gold, seven silver, and nine bronze medals,[12] although one was won by Coubertin himself, a Frenchman. He submitted his poem Ode to Sport under the pseudonyms Georges Hohrod and Martin Eschbach, as if it were a joint-entry, and won first prize in the 1912 literature category. The original report credits this medal to Germany.[13] Two individuals, Walter W. Winans[14] and Alfréd Hajós, won medals in both athletic and art competitions.[15]
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1912 Stockholm | Building-plan of a modern Stadium | none awarded | none awarded | |
| 1920 Antwerp | none awarded | Project pour une Ecole de Gymnastique | none awarded | |
| 1924 Paris | none awarded | Plan d'un Stade | Stade pour Monte-Carlo |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 Amsterdam | Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam | Swimming pool at Ollerup | Stadium at Versailles | |
| 1932 Los Angeles | Design for a "Cirque pour Toros" | Design for the Payne Whitney Gymnasium, New Haven, Conn. | Design for a "Schlesierkampfbahn" in the Sport Park of Breslau | |
| 1936 Berlin | Skiing Stadium | Reich Sport Field | Sporting Center in Vienna | |
| 1948 London | Skisprungschanze auf dem Kobenzl | Watersports Centre in Carinthia | Baths and Sporting Hall for Gothenburg |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 Amsterdam | Stadium at Nuremberg | Stadium at Versailles | Municipal park at Hamburg | |
| 1932 Los Angeles | Design for a Sports and Recreation Center with Stadium, for the City of Liverpool | Design for a Stadium and Public Park | Design for a "Maraton Park" | |
| 1936 Berlin[16] | Reich Sport Field | Marine Park, Brooklyn | Municipal Planning and Sporting Centre in Cologne | |
| 1948 London | The Centre of Athletics in Varkaus, Finland. | Swiss Federal Sports and Gymnastics Training Centre | The Athletic Centre in Kemi, Finland. |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1912 Stockholm | Ode to sport | none awarded | none awarded | |
| 1920 Antwerp | Canzoni Olimpioniche | Olympic Games of Antwerp | La Louange des Dieux | |
| 1924 Paris | Jeux Olympiques | Sword Songs | Vers le Dieu d’Olympie | |
Euryale | Ode pour les Jeux de Tailteann | |||
| 1932 Los Angeles | Am Kangehenzonga | The Argonauts | none awarded |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 Amsterdam | none awarded | Icaro | none awarded |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 Amsterdam | L’histoire des Jeux Olympiques | Boetius von Orlamünde | De Nar uit de Maremmen | |
| 1936 Berlin | Avoveteen | For the Top of the World | Dysk Olimijski | |
| 1948 London | La Grotta | The Olympic Champion | The Well of Youth |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 Amsterdam | Laur Olimpijski | Reitvorschrift fur eine Geliebte | Symphonia Heroïca | |
| 1936 Berlin[17] | The Runner | Profili Azzuri | The Discus | |
| 1948 London[18] | Laurel of Hellas | Six Poems | Rythme du Stade |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1912 Stockholm | Triumphal March | none awarded | none awarded | |
| 1920 Antwerp | Olympique | Epinicion | none awarded | |
| 1932 Los Angeles | none awarded | Into a New Life | none awarded |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 Amsterdam | none awarded | none awarded | Symphony No. 2 "Hellas" | |
| 1936 Berlin | Olympic Festive Music | The Victor | Mountain Suite | |
| 1948 London[19] | Olympic Symphony | Karhunpyynti | Viguer |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 Berlin | Olympic Vow | Olympic Cantata, 1936 | The Runner |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 London | none awarded | Divertimenti for Solo Flute and Strings | Toccata per Pianoforte |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 London | none awarded | none awarded | Inno Olimpionico |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1912 Stockholm | Winter Sports | none awarded | none awarded | |
| 1920 Antwerp | none awarded | L'Elan | Joueur de Football | |
| 1924 Paris | Etude de Sport | Natation | Patineurs |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 Amsterdam[20] | Rugby | Gestes de Football | Posters | |
| 1932 Los Angeles | Rodeo | Jackknife | Horseman | |
| 1936 Berlin | none awarded | Four Sketches for Frescoes | Classical Horse Racing in Japan |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 London | Swimming Pool | Polo Players | Seaside Sport |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 Amsterdam | Un Almanach de douze Sports | Posters | Mailcoach | |
| 1932 Los Angeles[21] | Leg Scissors | Stadium | Stabwechsel | |
| 1936 Berlin[22] | Arosa I Placard | International Automobile Race on the Avis | Yachting Club Certificate | |
| 1948 London[23] | none awarded | World Championship for Cycling Poster | World Championship for Ice Hockey Poster |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 Amsterdam | Cavalier Rouge | Boxeurs | Patinage | |
| 1932 Los Angeles | At the Seaside of Arild | Struggle | none awarded | |
| 1936 Berlin | none awarded | Runner at the Finishing Line | Ice Hockey | |
| 1948 London | London Amateur Championships | Le Pistard | Meath Hunt Point-to-Point Races |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1912 Stockholm | An American trotter | Model of the entrance to a modern Stadium | none awarded |
| 1920 Antwerp | La Force | Les Patineurs | Lanceur de Poids et Coureur |
| 1924 Paris | Discobole Finlandais | Vers l'olympiade | Le Boxeur |
Cadre de Medailles | |||
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 Berlin | none awarded | Medals | Equestrian Medals |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 London | none awarded | Eight Sports Plaques | Prize Rowing Trophy |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 Amsterdam | Médailles | Médaille pour les Jeux Olympiques | Plaquette | |
| 1932 Los Angeles[24] | Sport Sculpture II | Lindbergh Medal | Shield of the Athletes |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 Berlin | Hurdlers | Ball | none awarded | |
| 1948 London | none awarded | none awarded | The End of the Covert |
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 Amsterdam | Boxer | Athlète au repos | Footballeur | |
| 1932 Los Angeles | The Knockdown | Wrestling | Odysseus | |
| 1936 Berlin | Sulky Driver | Decathlon Athlete | Wrestling Youths | |
| 1948 London | Homage to Ling | The Stag | Nageuse |
| +Multiple medalists in Olympic art competitions | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936–1948 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||
| 1924, 1932, 1948 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 1924–1936 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 1932–1936 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 1928–1936 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 1928, 1948 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 1928 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 1912 | 1920 | 1924 | 1928 | 1932 | 1936 | 1948 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 4 | 9 | |||||
| 6 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |||||
| 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||||
| 1 | 4 | 5 | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 13 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | |||
| 1 | 8 | 3 | 24 | |||||
| 1 | 1 | |||||||
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||
| 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 14 | |||
| 2 | 2 | |||||||
| 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | |||||||
| 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | |||||
| 1 | 1 | |||||||
| 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 | ||||
| 2 | 2 | |||||||
| 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||||
| 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |||||
| 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| 1 | 7 | 1 | 9 | |||||