Art competitions at the Olympic Games 1912-1948 and the Czechoslovak participation

Abstract

The article deals with the art competitions that appeared on the program of modern Olympic Games between 1912 and 1948. It reveals the philosophical background of their existence within the Summer Olympics and their relation to the idea of kalokagathia. The article describes the reasons for their origin and how the founder of the modern Olympic movement Pierre de Coubertin succeeded in pushing this idea forward. There were five artistic disciplines: fine arts, music, sculpture, literature, and architecture. I will briefly introduce the history of art competitions in chronological order, show how their popularity gradually increased but I will also reveal the reasons the art competitions were removed from the program of the Olympic Games in the 1950s of the 20th century. Czech and Czechoslovak artists were frequent participants in the competitions. Except for Antwerp 1920 and Amsterdam 1928, they represented Czechoslovakia in large numbers until the time of the first Olympic Games after World War II in London 1948. In total, works by more than 50 Czechoslovak artists were presented and some were remarkably successful. Two composers Josef Suk and Jaroslav Křička and a sculptor Jakub Obrovský were even awarded Olympic medals in the 1930s. We will take a closer look at these achievements and present their works. The article aims to present a lesser known but important place of art competitions in the history of the modern Olympic movement and to recall the achievements of Czech and Czechoslovak artists.