When the Olympics gave out medals for art

[RZM]

For the first four decades of competition, the Olympics awarded official medals for painting, sculpture, architecture, literature and music, alongside those for the athletic competitions. From 1912 to 1952, juries awarded a total of 151 medals to original works in the fine arts inspired by athletic endeavors. Now, on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the first artistic competition, even Olympics fanatics are unaware that arts, along with athletics, were a part of the modern Games nearly from the start.

“Everyone that I’ve ever spoken to about it has been surprised,” says Richard Stanton, author of The Forgotten Olympic Art Competitions. “I first found out about it reading a history book, when I came across a little comment about Olympic art competitions, and I just said, ‘what competitions?’” Propelled by curiosity, he wrote the first—and still the only—English-language book ever published on the subject.

To learn about the overlooked topic, Stanton had to dig through crumbling boxes of often-illegible files from the International Olympic Committee archives in Switzerland—many of which hadn’t seen the light of day since they were packed away decades ago. He discovered that the story went all the way back to the Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the IOC and the modern Games, who saw art competitions as integral to his vision of the Olympics. “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,” Stanton says. “He felt that in order to recreate the events in modern times, it would be incomplete to not include some aspect of the arts.”

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/When-the-Olympics-Gave-Out-Medals-for-Art-163705106.html#ixzz235Y0p6BS

[RedStateLiberal]

1. I'm surprised too.

Very interesting. Thanks for posting!

[radhika]

2. Older readers may remember artist Leroy Nieman...

He is the painter of sports, so popular in the USA. He was the official painter of 5 Olympiads, and his real-time work was prominently featured in televised coverage, ABC - I think.

He didn't get a medal, but he was very much a part of the experience.

http://www.leroyneiman.com/leroy-neiman-biography.asp

[AlbertCat]

3. Well, now that ball room dancing is a sport...

.... maybe next year we'll get Olympic Drag Lip Synching

[RZM]

4. I watched rhythmic gymnastics the other day. I found it oddly intriguing.

Kind of like a cross between ballet, gymnastics, and synchronized swimming (without the water).

[Stevepol]

5. What about the original Greek Olympics?

I know there were many contests between playwrights and probably other cultural arts in ancient Greece, but I don't know if these contests were associated with the athletic events, that is, if they took place at the same time and/or place.

Any ancient Greek historians?

[RZM]

6. I really don't know. Were I to guess, I would think those events were not around back then

I think the ancient games focused on physical contests. Could be wrong, but that's my sense.

[Hestia]

7. From Wikipedia:

During the celebration of the games, an Olympic Truce was enacted so that athletes could travel from their countries to the games in safety. The prizes for the victors were wreaths of laurel leaves. The games became a political tool used by city-states to assert dominance over their rivals. Politicians would announce political alliances at the games, and in times of war, priests would offer sacrifices to the gods for victory. The games were also used to help spread Hellenistic culture throughout the Mediterranean. The Olympics also featured religious celebrations and artistic competitions. The statue of Zeus at Olympia was counted as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Sculptors and poets would congregate each olympiad to display their works of art to would-be patrons.

[nolabear]

8. What does it say that this was stopped?

Funny thing about the arts. People seem to think it just comes out of nowhere and has no value even as it influences and guides every aspect of our lives. As someone who has been paid by a local govt to write, I was subject to everything from astonishment to outright abuse by people who didn't recognize that every important moment of their lives is accompanied by the arts. Big, physical, adrenaline producing things are valued and quiet, internal, life enhancing things whose production you are unaware of are thought to be effortless. I wish it were otherwise, but not in this culture.

[kraj8995]

9. Its not possible.

How can this be possible that Olympic medal will be given for arts.I have never heard about it.