Art competitions at the 1936 Summer Olympics
Art competitions were held as part of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. Medals were awarded in five categories (architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture), for works inspired by sport-related themes.
The art exhibition was held in a hall of the Berlin Exhibition from July 15 to August 16, and displayed 667 works of art from 22 different countries. Additionally, the literature competition attracted 40 entries from 12 countries, and the music competition had 33 entries from 9 countries.[1]
The art competitions at the 1936 Games were similar to the 1928 and 1932 Games, with medals being awarded in multiple subcategories for each of the five artistic categories.[2] The judges declined to award any medals for three subcategories, and no gold medals for another three subcategories.
Art competitions were part of the Olympic program from 1912 to 1948.[3] At a meeting of the International Olympic Committee in 1949, it was decided to hold art exhibitions instead, as it was judged illogical to permit professionals to compete in the art competitions but only amateurs were permitted to compete in sporting events.[4] Since 1952, a non-competitive art and cultural festival has been associated with each Games.
Architecture
| Category | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architectural design |  Hermann Kutschera (AUT)Skiing Stadium |
.svg.png){kind=small} Werner March (GER)Reich Sport Field |
Hermann Stiegholzer and Herbert Kastinger (AUT) Sporting Centre in Vienna |
| Municipal planning | Werner March and Walter March (GER) Reich Sport Field |
 Charles Downing Lay (USA)Marine Park, Brooklyn |
Theo Nußbaum (GER) Municipal Planning and Sporting Centre in Cologne |
Literature
| Category | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lyric works | Felix Dhünen (GER) "The Runner" |
.svg.png){kind=small} Bruno Fattori (ITA)"Profili Azzurri" |
Hans Stoiber (AUT) "The Discus" |
| Dramatic works | none awarded | none awarded | none awarded |
| Epic works |  Urho Karhumäki (FIN)"Avoveteen" |
Wilhelm Ehmer (GER) "For the Top of the World" |
 Jan Parandowski (POL)"Dysk Olimpijski" |
Music
| Category | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo and chorus | Paul Höffer (GER) "Olympic Vow" |
Kurt Thomas (GER) "Olympic Cantata, 1936" |
Harald Genzmer (GER) "The Runner" |
| Instrumental | none awarded | none awarded | none awarded |
| Orchestra | Werner Egk (GER) "Olympic Festive Music" |
Lino Liviabella (ITA) "The Victor" |
 Jaroslav Křička (TCH)"Mountain Suite" |
Painting
| Category | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paintings | none awarded | Rudolf Eisenmenger (AUT) "Runners at the Finishing Line" |
 Ryuji Fujita (JPN)"Ice Hockey" |
| Drawings and water colours | none awarded | Romano Dazzi (ITA) "Four Sketches for Frescoes" |
Sujaku Suzuki (JPN) "Classical Horse Racing in Japan" |
| Graphic art | none awarded | none awarded | none awarded |
| Commercial graphic art |  Alex Diggelmann (SUI)"Arosa I Placard" |
Alfred Hierl (GER) "“International Automobile Race on the Avus" |
Stanisław Ostoja-Chrostowski (POL) "Yachting Club Certificate" |
Sculpture
| Category | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statues | Farpi Vignoli (ITA) "Sulky Driver" |
Arno Breker (GER) "Decathlon Athlete" |
 Stig Blomberg (SWE)"Wrestling Youths" |
| Reliefs | Emil Sutor (GER) "Hurdlers" |
Józef Klukowski (POL) "Ball" |
none awarded |
| Medals | none awarded | Luciano Mercante (ITA) "Medals" |
.svg.png){kind=small} Josue Dupon (BEL)"Equestrian Medals" |
Medal table
At the time, medals were awarded to these artists, but art competitions are no longer regarded as official Olympic events by the International Olympic Committee. These events do not appear in the IOC medal database,[5] and these totals are not included in the IOC's medal table for the 1936 Games.[6]
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany (GER) | 5 | 5 | 2 | 12 |
| 2 | Italy (ITA) | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| 3 | Austria (AUT) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 4 | Finland (FIN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Switzerland (SUI) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 6 | Poland (POL) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 7 | United States (USA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Japan (JPN) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | Belgium (BEL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Czechoslovakia (TCH) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Sweden (SWE) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total | 9 | 12 | 11 | 32 | |
References
- ↑ Diem, Carl (1937). XIth Olympic Games, Berlin 1936 Official Report (PDF). Berlin: Wilhelm Limpert. pp. 1106–1123. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
- ↑ Wagner, Juergen. "Olympic Art Competition 1936 Berlin". Olympic Games Museum. Archived from the original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Bolanaki, A. (June 1951). "Report on Art Exhibitions" (PDF). Bulletin du Comité International Olympique. Lausanne: International Olympic Committee (27): 34. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
- ↑ "Olympic Medal Winners". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 28 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
- ↑ "Berlin 1936 Medal Table". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 12 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-26.