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An Olympic Medal — For Arts
From 1912–1952, the Olympics awarded medals for arts and sculpture, though most people do not remember this. In 2012, the first book in English on the topic was published, “The Forgotten Olympic Art Competitions” by Richard Stanton. Stanton dug through decades-old, crumbling files that were packed away in Switzerland in order to uncover the origin of this forgotten Olympic tradition. Apparently, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the modern Olympic Games, saw art competitions as integral to his vision of the Olympics. Stanton told Smithsonian Magazine of Coubertin, “He was raised and educated classically, and he was particularly impressed with the idea of what it meant to be a true Olympian — someone who was not only athletic, but skilled in music and literature.” Coubertin thought that without the arts, it couldn’t be a true Olympic event. However, Coubertin had no luck convincing local organizers from Athens, St. Louis, or Paris that art competitions were necessary. At the 1912 Stockholm Games, Coubertin finally secured the
Olympic fine art competitions. There were categories for architecture, music, painting, sculpture, and literature, but every work had to somehow be inspired by sports. Judges didn’t have to award gold medals if they were disappointed by all the submissions, but 1912 was a success. With 33 artists in participation, a gold medal was awarded in every category. (Coubertin even won for his poem, “Ode to Sport”! He disguised it with a pseudonym.) As the Olympics exploded into a beloved international event, the fine arts competitions rarely caught people’s attention. Not all categories won gold medals, if any at all. There were significant winners, however. John Russell Pope (the architect of the Jefferson Memorial) won a silver at the 1932 Los Angeles Games for his design of the Payne Whitney Gymnasium, constructed at Yale University. Other famous participants include Italian sculptor Rembrandt Bugatti, American illustrator Percy Crosby, Irish author Oliver St. John Gogarty, and Dutch painter Isaac Israëls. Even if the art competitions are not a part of the games anymore, they are fascinating to learn about! We’ll definitely think about them the next time the Olympics (finally) roll around.
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APPLETON: 920-944-6020 • NORTHEAST GEORGIA: 678-491-9744
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