Once upon a time, art used to be an Olympic sports!

Did you know that art, along with athletics, was also a part of the modern Olympic Games nearly from the start? When Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a French educator and historian, founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, he declared that one of the missions of the modern Olympiad would be to reunite the bond of muscle and mind. Accordingly, he included art as a part of the Olympics during its early years, from 1912 to 1948.  

Art categories  
Curious, how these art competitions were held? Let us tell you. Medals were awarded under five categories: architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture. In all, over 151 Olympic medals were awarded in artistic competitions in the seven Olympiads from 1912 to 1948.  

There were rules set for the partcipants. All of the entered works had to be inspired by sport and had to be original (that is, not be published before the competition). Generally, it was permitted for artists to enter multiple works, although a maximum number was sometimes established. This made it possible for an artist to win multiple prizes in a single competition. 

Also, the highest-ranked artists took away gold, silver, and bronze medals, although not all medals were awarded in each competition. Infact, on a few occasions, no medals were presented at all. 

The Olympic journey of art 
In the first Olympics with art held in 1912 in Stockholm, Sweden, the number of entrants was rather disappointing: only 35 artists  sent their entries, but gold medals were awarded in all five categories. Again, in the first post-war Olympic Games held in war-ravaged Belgium, art contests were on the programme, although they were little more than a sideshow.  

This was different for the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. The contests were taken seriously for the first time, and 193 artists submitted works. The growth continued at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, where over 1,100 works of art were exhibited, not including the submissions in literature, music and architecture. But the 1932 Los Angeles Games were a big hit. The exhibition drew close to 400000 visitors.  

Art contests were also held in Berlin (1936) and London (1948), with reasonable success, although the number of entered works had significantly dropped by 1948. 

What led to the dissolution of art from Olympics? 
Sadly, the juried art competitions were abandoned in 1954. But if they were reasonably well, then what led to their dissolution from Olympics?  

This was because artists were considered to be professionals, while Olympic athletes were required to be amateurs.  

In simple words, the artists were allowed to sell their works at the close of the exhibition, which was rather controversial given the IOC's amateurism policy, which required all competitors to be amateurs. Many artists used their well-regarded skills to make money, particularly the architects and musicians.  

This led to all kinds of debates. The artists’ viewpoint was that “How do you have a valid art competition with highly-skilled artists if those entering weren’t allowed to make a living off their art?” But it wasn’t fair to the athletes who were not allowed to do the same.  

So, in 1949 it was concluded that practically all contestants in the art competitions were professionals and that the competitions should therefore be abolished and replaced with an exhibition without awards or medals. Finally, in 1954, art contests were replaced with an Olympic cultural programme.