Olympic Art Competitions entries database
This spreadsheet records the basic data about all the Olympic Art Competition entries as compiled by Sports-Reference (see citation and data use policy below), with some minor corrections based on the Olympic exhibition reports and catalogues. Categories include: year, event, title, artist name, rank, age, and national team. "Hors Concours" refers to works that were exhibited but did not compete.
Thanks to Derek Miller and Jacqueline Basu for their help assembling this index.
Entries database with added metadata
(work in progress)
This spreadsheet expands the basic data above to add details (categorical or fine-grained) about artworks and artists. Artwork information is based on submission titles and, when possible, images, recordings, or texts that have survived. Artist information is based on Olympic exhibition catalogues and the individual bios written on Sports-Reference. Some of the new categories are incomplete, as information can be scarce, so please contact me before using this data for analytical purposes.
Artwork categories include: sport or Olympic topic represented; geographical orientation (e.g. local or foreign subject); gender of subject; sub-genre; medium; interest in the category of victory. New artist categories include: city from which he/she submitted; whether Sports-Reference bio is available; sex; top athletic-career honor attained; political preference; affiliation with traditional art school or organization; affiliation with modernist group; teacher; stance on classicism; and association with particular artistic style.
Olympic_entries_metadata_2024.xlsx [last updated 29 Mar. 2024]
Sources for databases
Sports-Reference (now on Olympedia.org)
Original source: Olympic Sports: Art Competitions. Sports-Reference, 2016, www.sports-reference.com/olympics/sports/ART/. Accessed 7 Jan. 2017.
[Data use policy: https://www.sports-reference.com/data_use.html]
New location: Olympedia: Disciplines and Sports: Art Competitions. Olympedia, 2021. http://www.olympedia.org/sports/ART. Accessed 13 Jan. 2021.
Richard Stanton
Stanton, Richard. The Forgotten Olympic Art Competitions : The Story of the Olympic Art Competitions of the 20th Century. Victoria: Trafford, 2000.
Stanton, Richard. "In Search of the Artists of 1912." Journal of Olympic History 9.2 (Spring 2001): 3-13.
Olympic Reports, Exhibition Catalogues, and Archived Records
"Liste des participants: Concours d'art." CIO JO-1912S-COART, Olympic Studies Centre, International Olympic Committee, Lausanne. July 2016.
Olympic Games Antwerp 1920: Official Report. Brussels: Belgium Olympic Committee, 1957.
[NB: Only the names of medal-winning artists are recorded for 1920]
Les Jeux de la VIIIe Olympiade - Paris 1924: Rapport Officiel. Paris: Comité Olympique Français, 1924. Librairie de France.
VIIIe Olympiade: Exposition et Concours d'Art (Sous le haut patronage de M. Alexandre Millerand...). Paris: Comité exécutif, 1924.
The Ninth Olympiad - Amsterdam 1928: Official Report. Ed. G. Van Rossem. Amsterdam: Netherlands Olympic Committee, 1928.
IXe Olympiade Amsterdam 1928: Catalogue du Concours et de l'Exposition d'Art Olympique. Amsterdam: Musée Municipal Amsterdam, 1928.
The Games of the Xth Olympiad - Los Angeles 1932: Official Report. Los Angeles: Xth Olympiade Committee of the Games of Los Angeles, 1933.
Xth Olympiad Los Angeles 1932: Catalogue of Competition and Exhibition of Art (Catalogue of the Exhibition at the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science and Art). Los Angeles: Los Angeles Museum, 1932.
The XIth Olympic Games Berlin, 1936: Official Report. Ed. W. Limpert. Berlin: Organisationskomitee für die XI. Olympiade Berlin 1936, 1936.
Olympischer Kunstwettbewerb: Katalog der Olympischen Kunstausstellung.. : XI Olympiade Berlin. Berlin: [Comité d'organisation], 1936.
The Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad. London: The Organizing Committee for the XIV Olympiad, 1948.
Illustrations from the XIVth Olympiad Sport in Art Exhibition, London 1948. London: Oliver Burridge & Co. Ltd., 1948.
Catalogue of the XIVth Olympiad Sport in Art Exhibition, London 1948. London: XIVth Olympiad Committee, 1948.