If you’ve been paying any kind of attention over the last several weeks, you could say that many of the goings-on in the world have been that of "Olympic" proportions! The 2024 Summer Olympics recently concluded in Paris, France, in which there were all kinds of events--classic ones, dating back to the beginning of the Olympics, like running and wrestling, while others were new, like break dancing. The Olympics these days are all based on sporting events, with the highest honors being awarded to the top three participants who earn either a gold, silver, or bronze medal. But did you know, that for a time in history, the Olympics also awarded medals for the arts? Yes, gold, silver, and bronze medals were once awarded to contestants in painting, sculpture, literature, music, and architecture. The painting shown above, The Liffey Swim, by Jack B. Yeats, won a silver medal in 1924. The artworks submitted for the competition all had to revolve around a sports related theme. The medals awarded in the arts competition began in 1912 and ended in 1948, due to the International Olympic Committee(IOC) requirements at that time, that participants in the Olympics were not allowed to be professionals in their area, but instead had to be considered only amateurs. You can check out a few more examples of some medal winning artwork below. If you’re interested, you can also read more about the history of Olympic arts here.
An American Trotter, by Walter Winans, gold medal in 1912
L'Elan(The Jump), Henriette Brossin de Polanska, silver medal 1920
Rugby, Jean Jacoby, gold medal in 1928
The London Amateur Boxing Championship Held at the Royal Albert Hall, Alfred Reginald Thomson, gold medal in 1948.
Schaatsenrijders(Skaters), Johan van Hell, bronze medal in 1924
Although there are no medals currently given in the Olympics for the arts anymore, the arts are still very much alive and well as part of the Olympics in areas such as: design of team uniforms, design of the Olympic medals, the opening and closing ceremonies, advertising, logo design, and much, much more. However, on an interesting note, recently musician and designer, Pharrell Williams, was part of the 2024 Paris Olympic Torch Relay, and he called for the return of the former artistic competitions to be part of the Olympics. So who knows? Maybe in the nearby future, artists will once again be going for the gold! This would make us all very, as Pharrell puts it, "Happy."
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