Art as Olympic sport

From 24/7 Wall Street this morning: 13 Awesome Sports the Olympics Killed.

3. Arts competition
> Year introduced: 1912
> Number of Olympics: 7
> Last played: 1948

Beginning at Stockholm in 1912, the Olympics included an arts competition. This was purportedly part of the vision that Pierre de Coubertin, who founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, had for the Olympic Games. De Coubertin would later win a gold medal himself, for literature, at the 1912 Games. In 1948, 25 nations sent artists to London to compete in architecture, painting, sculpture, literature and music; this was the last time arts would be featured in the Olympics. As the majority of artists competing were professionals, and the IOC opposed professional competitions at the time, the event was removed.

Comments

[Out Looking In]

"The Role of Dance in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games", available as a PDF file on the internet, is a fascinating article by Elizabeth A. Hanley. The names Slavenska, Kreutzberg, Wigman, Graham, and Laban figure promenently.

[Haglund]

What an interesting article. Thanks OLI! Imagine - 14 years later Slavenska and Frederic Franklin started their own company. I wonder if Freddie was ever in the Olympics.