Paris 1924: Olympics

The summer Olympics 2024 is set in Paris, one hundred years after the Games were there last.

Reflecting on the art competitions of those days, an exhibition marks a centenary of sport, returning to the city with an avant-garde twist.

It was in 1924 that there was a major change in sport and art alike. A showing at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge explores the avenue of relations between the two dates of 1924 to 2024.

According to the museum, “Paris 1924: Sport, Art and the Body” depicts the works of artists including Pablo Picasso, Diego Rivera, Natalia Gontcharova and Umberto Boccioni. All artists captured an element of the human body in dialogues of classical sculpture, posters, fashion, film, photography, sporting objects, advertising and more.

Not just art, this feature at the museum highlights how the 1924 Games went on to change the way we perceive the celebrity of sport along with body image and identity, class, race and gender.

1924 was a year not to be forgotten as although based on the original ancient Greek Olympics, it was a time when everything was changing in the “Roaring Twenties.”

It was the first time that athletes gained the type of coverage that we see today, a century later.

This was a triumphant time and athletes marked the occasion with their wins, including William DeHart Hubbard who became the first Black person to win an Olympic gold medal in an Olympic individual event.

The celebrity of these athletes has carried on and one hundred years later the media coverage has grown stronger and stronger from this pivoting point that was started in Paris.

The Fitzwilliam Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday, 10am – 5pm and Sunday, 12 – 5pm. The exhibition Paris 1924: Sport, Art and the Body will be on display from 19^th July until 3^rd November 2024. For tickets visit: The Fitzwilliam Museum – Welcome to the Museum (cam.ac.uk)