The Marriage of Sport and Art:The Forgotten Olympic Art Competitions (1912-1948)

Abstract

Since their inception, the Olympic Movement and the arts have always gone hand in hand and complemented each other. In the early years of the modern Olympic movement (1912-1948), the Muse Pentathlon was an official event of the Olympic Games. However, the question of how to organize such an artistic event in sport and how to evaluate artistic competitions in artistic events of the same period remains a question of great significance. Using historical research, case studies and comparative studies, this paper explores the interaction between the Olympics and the arts and the IOC’s understanding of Olympic culture by focusing on the IOC’s official practice of organizing art competitions and planning exhibitions, and by combining it with the historical background of art competitions held in the first half of the twentieth century and art salon events of the same period. The research resources are based on official IOC reports, conference documents, newspapers, art exhibition brochures, Coubertin’s own works and memoirs, and other primary documents and images.