Paris 1924: Sport, Art and the Body

Sheds new light on the Paris Olympics of 1924, often considered the first international games.

From their origins in ancient Greece to their modern transformation into a visually powerful event on the world stage, the Olympics have retained their unique place in sport and culture. The summer of 2024 will see the Olympics return to Paris after a century; the 1924 Olympics, arguably the first truly international games, were the first to transmit live radio broadcasts and the first to have an Olympic village. Published to coincide with the Paris Olympics of 2024, Paris 1924 accompanies a major exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum.

This book explores the Olympic games from a visual perspective, investigating the tensions between their classical beginnings and their representation in 1924 and across the modern era. How were the 1924 Olympics shaped by the visual culture of the period? And how, in turn, were the arts shaped by them? From plaster casts of fifth-century BCE athletic statues to Hollywood cinema, and from classic portraits of the protagonists to more abstract art, Paris 1924 brings together painting, sculpture, film, photography, posters, letters, medals, and other memorabilia to tell a story of sporting endeavor that equally mirrored and shaped its times. Issues of gender, race, and class, as well as an exploration of celebrity and spectatorship, show that the debate around sport was as complex and momentous in the past as it is today.

The book includes essays by specialists from the fields of classics, art history, French history, sports history, and medicine, each of whom will focus on key themes in the exhibition and key protagonists in the Olympic story. The subject matter will appeal to fans of both art and sports and tap into the enthusiasm for all things Olympic in 2024.

Caroline Vout is professor of classics and director of the Museum of Classical Archaeology at the University of Cambridge. Christopher Young is head of the School of Arts and Humanities and professor of modern and medieval German studies at the University of Cambridge.