The starting shot has been fired. The racers are digging their feet into the ground, throwing their weight forward. This celebration of athletics belongs to Jean Jacoby’s long standing and award-winning interest in sports. Indeed 100 years ago at the 1924 Olympic games in Paris Jacoby won the gold medal for his "Three sports studies" series, comprising the oil paintings "Corner - Football", "Départ - Athlétisme" and "Rugby".

It was Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, who in 1904 suggested including art in the Olympic programme. This proposal was part of a return to the tradition of ancient Greece, where cultural competitions were organised alongside sporting events. As such, art formed part of the competition from 1912 to 1948.

Jacoby won the gold medal at the Olympic art competition twice, in 1924 and in Amsterdam in 1928. In 1936, Jacoby decided to take part in the infamous Berlin Olympic Games, which had been shamefully tainted by Nazi propaganda. It was an abject failure. None of his works won any prizes. The artist had presented 9 charcoal drawings and a triptych devoted to the 110-metre hurdles, designed as a decorative element in a clubhouse, to which this oil on wood panel belongs.

Text | CC BY-NC | Lisi Linster