Art competitions at the 1912 Summer Olympics

Art competitions were held as part of the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. It was the first time that art competitions were part of the Olympic program. Medals were awarded in five categories (architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture), for works inspired by sport-related themes. ^[1]

Art competitions were part of the Olympic program from 1912 to 1948, but were discontinued due to concerns about amateurism and professionalism. Since 1952, a non-competitive art and cultural festival has been associated with each Games. ^[2]

Medal summary

Category	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Architecture	Eugène-Edouard Monod and Alphonse Laverrière  (SUI) Building plan of a modern stadium	none awarded	none awarded
Literature	Georges Hohrod & Martin Eschbath  (GER) [a] "Ode to Sport"	none awarded	none awarded
Music	Riccardo Barthelemy  (ITA) "Olympic Triumphal March"	none awarded	none awarded
Painting	Carlo Pellegrini  (ITA) Three connected friezes representing "Winter Sports"	none awarded	none awarded
Sculpture	Walter Winans  (USA) Bronze statuette "An American trotter"	Georges Dubois  (FRA) Model of the entrance to a modern stadium	none awarded

Medal table

In 1952, art competition medals were removed from the official national medal counts. ^[6] However, at least since June 2021, the art competitions medals are again taken into account by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the medal tables for the relevant Olympics. ^[7]

Rank	NOC	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Italy	2	0	0	2
2	Germany	1	0	0	1
	Switzerland	1	0	0	1
	United States	1	0	0	1
5	France	0	1	0	1
Totals (5 entries)		5	1	0	6

Events summary

Architecture

The following architects took part: ^[8]

Rank	Name	Country
1	Alphonse Laverrière, Eugène-Édouard Monod	Switzerland
AC	A. Laffen	Unknown
AC	André Collin	France
AC	Frantz Jourdain	France
AC	Fritz Eccard	Unknown
AC	Guillaume Fatio	Switzerland
AC	Jacob Rees	Great Britain
AC	Julius Skarba-Wallraf	Germany
AC	Konrad Hippenmeier	Switzerland

Literature

The following writers took part: ^[3]

Rank	Name	Country
1	Georges Hohrod & Martin Eschbach [a]	Germany
AC	Gabriele D'Annunzio	Italy
AC	Marcel Boulenger	France
AC	Maurice Pottecher	France
AC	Gabriel Letainturier-Fradin	France
AC	Paul Adam	France

Music

The following composers took part: ^[9]

Rank	Name	Country
1	Riccardo Barthelemy	Italy
AC	Ethel Barnard	Great Britain
AC	Gustave Doret	Switzerland
AC	Max d'Ollone	France
AC	Émile Jaques-Dalcroze	France

Painting

The following painters took part: ^[10]

Rank	Name	Country
1	Carlo Pellegrini	Italy
AC	Ernest Townsend	Great Britain
AC	Ferdinand Gueldry	France
AC	Jean François Raffaëlli	France

Sculpture

The following sculptors took part: ^[11]

Rank	Name	Country
1	Walter Winans	United States
2	Georges Dubois	France
AC	Otakar Španiel	Bohemia
AC	Tait McKenzie	Canada
AC	Rembrandt Bugatti	Italy
AC	Victor Segoffin	France
AC	Paolo, Prince Trubetskoy	Russia
AC	Antoni Wiwulski	Congress Poland

Notes

1. Pierre de Coubertin's entry was submitted by the pseudonym of "Georges Hohrod" and "Martin Eschbach" from Germany, even though he is French. Despite the subsequent resolving of his identity, the medal is officially still awarded and attributed to Germany, according to the pseudonym and the country under which the work was submitted. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

References

1. "Art Competitions at the 1912 Summer Olympics". Olympedia. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
2. "Kurt Kohlstedt: Pentathlon of the Muses". 99% Invisible . December 21, 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
3. "Olympedia – Literature, Open 1912". Olympedia. 2023. Archived from the original on 31 May 2025. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
4. "Germany - NOC Profile". olympics.com. International Olympic Committee (IOC). 2024. Archived from the original on 6 October 2024. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
5. "France - NOC Profile". olympics.com. International Olympic Committee (IOC). 2024. Archived from the original on 6 October 2024. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
6. McGillivray, Mary (2024-07-31). "ABC TV's The Art Of explores the surprising history of art competitions at the Olympics". ABC News. Retrieved 2024-08-05.
7. "Stockholm 1912 Olympic Medal Table – Gold, Silver & Bronze". International Olympic Committee . Archived from the original on 19 January 2025. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
8. "Art Competitions at the 1912 Summer Olympics: Architecture, Open". Olympedia. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
9. "Art Competitions at the 1912 Summer Olympics: Music, Open". Olympedia. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
10. "Art Competitions at the 1912 Summer Olympics: Painting, Open". Olympedia. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
11. "Art Competitions at the 1912 Summer Olympics: Sculpturing, Open". Olympedia. Retrieved 22 July 2020.

Sources

• Bergvall, Erik, ed. (December 1913). The Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912 Official Report (PDF). Stockholm: Wahlström and Widstrand. pp. 806–811. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
• Wagner, Juergen. "Olympic Art Competition 1912". Olympic Games Museum. Archived from the original on 17 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
• Kramer, Bernhard (May 2004). "In Search of the Lost Champions of the Olympic Art Contests" (PDF). Journal of Olympic History. 12 (2): 29–34. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
• "Stockholm 1912: Did you know?". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 8 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-25.