His Majesty, Juan Carlos I, the King of Spain, will arrive in
Barcelona on July 25th to make the following pronouncement adapted
from ancient Greek: "I declare open the Olympic Games of Barcelona,
celebrating the 25th Olympiad of the modern era."
For the following 15 days, it is estimated, more than half the
world's population--2.5 billion people in 120 countries--will be
watching the Games. Television, with its electronic magic--slow
motion, replays, multiple camera angles, the ability to hop instantly
from one site to another miles across town--will allow its audience
to see better, faster, more.
Many sports have been added since the original pentathlon of the
ancient Greeks, even since the first Olympiad of the modern era.
Unfortunately, an important feature of the Games up until 1948 will
be missing again: the fine arts.
Beginning with the fifth Olympiad, in Stockholm in 1912, and ending
with the 14th, in London in 1948, fine arts were an integral part of
the competition. Represented were: architecture, sculpture, painting,
literature and music.
The American artists have always done well in these competitions. For
instance, Walter Winans captured first place in sculpture with his
work An American Trotter in Stockholm in 1912. Ruth
Miller placed second for her painting Struggle and John
Russel Pope placed second in the architecture competition for his
Design for Payne Whitney Gymnasium, both in the 1932
Olympics in Los Angeles. And in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Charles
Downing Lay took second in town planning for his design for
Marine Park, Brooklyn.
First place in that category and second place for architectural
design went to Werner and Walter March for their design of the
Sports Stadium. In music, Werner Egk took first with his
orchestral composition,. In sculpture, second place went to the
recently deceased Arno Breker for his work Dekathlete.
This turned out to be the turning point in the life of this most
significant sculptor of our time.
Ever since that time, Arno Breker maintained a close and
uninterrupted relationship with the young generation, especially
athletes. He has immortalized Olympic athletes such as Gustav
Stührk, Eberhard Gienger, Kurt Bendlin, Peter Nocke, Walter
Kusch, Jürgen Hingsen and Ulrike Meyfarth.
Physical beauty requires both discipline and achievement. This beauty
is especially reflected in the physique of the athletes whom the
master retained in his various drawings, graphics and sculptures.
From the beauty of the perfect human body the artist can draw
inspiration for his attempt to capture the likeness of the human form
and the essence of the spirit and soul of his model.
To create a permanent ideal monument for mankind as a basis for a
healthy future is an ideal especially inspiring for our youthful
generation.
An Olympic champion wrote to me these lines: "...to the beautiful and
positive things in our society doubtlessly belong sport and art.
Sport has always radiated a force which binds a people together. The
active sportsmen of our time should make us more conscious of this
fact."
I wholeheartedly agree. And we know there is no better way to foster
cooperation between sportsmen and artists than that which existed up
to the 14th Olympiad in London in 1948: namely, having competitions
in fine arts again incorporated into Olympic Games. The categories
that should again be represented are:
ARCHITECTURE -- Town Planning, Architectural
Design
PAINTING -- Paintings and Water Colors, Lithographs
and Etchings
MUSIC -- Songs for Soloists to Choir, Orchestral
Compositions
SCULPTURE -- Statues, Reliefs
LITERATURE -- Epic Works, Lyric Works
It would be of great significance, both for sportsmen and artists, if
all future Olympiads reincorporated these 10 categories of fine
arts.
Several years ago, an international committee was formed under the
name ART FOR OLYMPIA (10545 Main Street, Clarence, New York 14031),
to promote this idea. A number of prominent artists, as well as
Olympic champions enthusiastically endorsed this initiative.
Unfortunately, the bureaucrats running the Games today are more
concerned with bringing us the Olympic Games every two (!!?) years,
rather than being loyal to the true tradition and spirit of the
Olympiad.