Image via Complex Original
The Winter Olympic Games kicked off last week in Sochi, Russia. Between snowboarding, luge, and more, athletes will be competing with gear and style that looks a lot different from that of centuries past. But one thing that we'll likely never see again is the visual and lyrical art that was once part of the competition. Yes, you read that right. In the early 20th century, art was actually an Olympic sport.
In 1906, French baron and founder of the International Olympic Committee, Pierre de Coubertin, thought it might be interesting to integrate arts and culture into the Olympic Games. From 1912 to 1948, participants from all over the globe entered their works in the following categories: literature, architecture, music, painting, and sculpture.
Athletes who also dabbled in art were given a chance to win medals in other events. Rumor has it Baron de Coubertin himself even entered the Games under a pseudonym in 1912. While some of the artists that participated, such as Jack Butler Yeats and Paul Landowski, went on to see success in their careers, many faded into oblivion after their Olympic wins.
We've dug up a collection of pieces from the lost Olympic art competitions. Between livestreaming Nordic skiing and catching Shaun White on the big screen, check out these fascinating 20 Works from the Short-Lived Olympic Art Competitions.
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Carlo Pellegrini, Winter Sports
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1912
Award: Gold medal
Carlo Pellegrini was an influential magazine artist and illustrator. His graphic artwork Winter Sports won the first gold medal in the category. After his win, Pellegrini eventually became a famous caricaturist for Vanity Fair magazine.
Walter Winans, An American Trotter
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1912
Award: Gold medal
Walter Winans was an multi-faceted American sculptor, horse breeder, and painter. Winans participated in both the athletic and art Olympic competitions, winning medals for shooting and sculpture at the 1908 and 1912 Games. His sculpture An American Trotter took home the gold in the 1912 Games.
Henriette Brossin de Polanska, L'Elan
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1920
Award: Silver medal
Painter Henriette Brossin de Polanska learned to paint during her years in Paris and Italy. Most known for still life and portraiture, she took home the silver medal for L'Elan at the 1920 Antwerp Games.
Simon Goossens, Les Patineurs (Skaters)
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1920
Award: Silver medal
Belgian sculptor Simon Goossens studied at the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts. He won his silver medal, for his work Les Patineurs (Skaters), while still in school. He eventually became a Fine Arts professor in his hometown.
Alfred Ost, De Voetballer
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1920
Award: Silver medal
Belgian artist Alfred Ost took home the silver medal at the 1920 Antwerp Games for his painting De Voetballer. Ost was well known for both his rural imagery and intense depictions of life's hardships. After World War II commenced, Ost became close with Jesuit priests at Xavierus College and drew charcoal and wood-coal drawings all over the walls of the school.
Paul Landowski, The Fallen Boxer
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1924
Award: None
Sculptor Paul Landowski entered the Olympic art competitions several times and took home the gold medal once, for his sculpture Boxer. He build off the theme of his winning piece with his 1924 submission The Fallen Boxer, which did not win, but was powerful nonetheless. Landowski would go on to create Christ the Redeemer, his large-scale 1931 statue that overlooks the city of Rio de Janeiro.
Johan van Hell, Schaatsenrijders (Skaters)
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1924
Award: Bronze medal
Johan van Hell was a Dutch musician and artist who spent much of his career depicting the struggles of the working class. In addition to winning the bronze medal at the 1924 Olympics for his painting Schaatsenrijders (Skaters), van Hell dedicated his life to making the arts more affordable for the working class, selling his work for low prices and teaching less affluent students.
Jack Butler Yeats, The Liffey Swim
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1924
Award: Silver medal
Irish painter Jack Butler Yeats, younger brother of famous poet W.B. Yeats, began his art career as an illustrator for magazines. He eventually moved onto oil painting, and many of his works were inspired by his home country landscape, with elements of Expressionism and Romanticism. Yeats' painting The Liffey Swim, which depicted an annual Dublin swimming race, won the silver medal at the 1924 Olympics in Paris.
Dezsö Lauber and Alfréd Hajós, Plan of stadium
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1924
Award: Silver medal
Architecture was also a category in the Olympic art competitions. Alfréd Hajós was a two-time gold medalist, having competed in the 1896 Games in Athens. Along with fellow former Olympian Dezsö Lauber, Hajós won the silver medal in the 1924 Paris Olympics for the
Jean Jacoby, Rugby
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1928
Award: Gold medal
Luxembourg artist Jean Jacoby often depicted sports in his artwork. Jacoby won the gold medal in the Olympic art competitions in both the 1924 and 1928 Games, making him the most decorated Olympic artist ever. He also designed postage stamps for the 1952 Summer Olympics. Jacoby's Rugby won the gold medal in the 1928 Summer Games held in Amsterdam.
Miltiades Manno, Wrestling
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1932
Award: Silver medal
Hungarian athlete Miltiades Manno did not make it past the first round in a rowing event in his 1912 Olympic debut. Manno, however, was also a strong artist and entered the 1932 Summer Olympics with his sculpture Wrestling. After taking home the silver medal, Manno was predominantly known for his sports and propaganda posters.
Mahonri Mackintosh Young, Knockout
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1932
Award: Gold medal
The grandson of Brigham Young, Mahonri Macintosh Young spent much of his career as a sculptor in New York City. His most famous works include monuments in Salt Lake City, statues for the American Museum of Natural History, and works for the 1939 New York World's Fair. Young's sculpture Knockout won gold at the 1932 Games in Los Angeles.
Ruth Miller, Struggle
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1932
Award: Silver medal
American painter and muralist Ruth Miller won the silver medal for her painting Struggle at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1932. Miller's father wrote American Telephone Practice, one of the first complete guides to the telephone industry at the time. After studying art in both New York City and Europe, Miller moved to California where she studied in Ojai and taught portraiture at the Stickney School of Art in Pasadena.
Lee Blair, Rodeo
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1932
Award: Gold medal
The 1932 Summer Olympics were held in Los Angeles, and American artist Lee Blair took home the gold medal for his watercolor painting Rodeo. Blair helped design early commercials for television and was an illustrator for Disney, most notably working on Fantasia. His work at the Olympic Games contributed to the evolution of a technique now known as California Style watercolor painting.
Alex Diggelmann, Arosa
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1936
Award: Gold medal
Swiss artist Alex Walter Diggelmann won the gold medal in 1936 for his advertising piece Arosa in the Applied Graphics category. He designed the medals that are still used as awards for the World Ski Championships and created popular Red Cross posters during World War II. One of Switzerland's most famous graphic artists, Diggelmann went on to win additional medals in the 1948 Games for commercial posters for ice hockey and cycling.
Rudolf Hermann Eisenmenger, Läufer vor dem Ziel (Runners at the Finishing Line)
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1936
Award: Silver medal
Austrian artist Rudolf Hermann Eisenmenger won the silver medal in the 1936 Olympic Games for his painting Läufer vor dem Ziel (Runners at the Finishing Line). Eisenmenger became known for his outspoken political views in his artwork, eventually going on to create a well-known mural that whitewashed Nazi failures.
Farpi Vignoli, Guidatore di Sulky
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1936
Award: Gold medal
Farpi Vignoli studied art and sculpture while growing up in Italy in the early 20th century. Vignoli spent his childhood in a house near the Arcoveggio, where horseracing took place, which is likely what inspired his gold medal winning sculpture Guidatore di Sulky. In addition to the sculpture that made him famous, Vignoli also dabbled in watercolors and fresco techniques throughout his career.
Emil Sutor, Hürdenläufer (Hurdle runners)
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1936
Award: Gold medal
Emil Sutor was a German sculptor known primarily for his large-scale and sometimes colorful works found across Germany. Sutor won the Gold Medal for his relief Hürdenläufer (Hurdle runners) at the Summer Games in Berlin in 1936.
Rosamund Fletcher, The End of the Covert
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1948
Award: Bronze medal
British artist Rosamund Fletcher was the daughter of a painter. Fletcher worked mostly in sculpture, winning prizes across her home country. Her relief The End of the Covert won the bronze medal at the final Olympic art competitions in 1948.
Alfred Reginald Thomson, The London Amateur Boxing Championship Held at the Royal Albert Hall
Olympics: Summer Olympics, 1948
Award: Gold medal
Alfred Reginald Thomson was not only a painter, but also the official artist for the Royal Air Force in England in the 1940s. Born in India, Thompson became interested in art after a career in developing commercial posters and murals. His painting The London Amateur Boxing Championship Held at the Royal Albert Hall was the last to win a gold medal for painting in the Olympic art competitions, which were abandoned after the 1948 London Games.