Olympics Awarded Gold for a Painting
Published February 2026 on Novisali.com
Between 1912 and 1948, the Olympic Games awarded gold medals — not only for athletic performance, but for painting, sculpture, music, architecture, and literature. Art was not a side event. It was part of the competition.
Introduced by Pierre de Coubertin, the vision was simple yet radical: human excellence includes both body and imagination. At the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, this idea became reality. For 36 years, artists competed for Olympic medals. Then it stopped.
Reflections
- What we choose to measure shapes what we value.
- Excellence can be physical — but also interpretive.
- Integration was once the norm; separation came later.
- Cultural memory is shorter than we think.
The Message
The story of Olympic art medals reminds us that achievement is not one-dimensional.
Speed can be timed. Strength can be weighed. But meaning must be interpreted.
In a world increasingly driven by metrics, this forgotten chapter invites us to ask: What forms of excellence are we overlooking today?
Read the full reflection here:
https://novisali.com/olympics-awarded-gold-for-a-painting-os-delade-ut-guld-for-en-malning/
About Liselotte Engstam, Digoshen & Novisali
Liselotte Engstam is an explorer of perspectives, an adventurer of ideas, a pathfinder of meaning, and a guide of timeless transitions. She bridges the worlds of board leadership and art, helping organizations and individuals navigate disruption while nurturing creativity and reflection.
As founder of Digoshen, she works with boards and leaders to expand future insights and reduce digital and sustainability blindspots. Through research, networks, and executive programs, Digoshen supports responsible value creation in the digital and sustainable age, contributing thought leadership via books, articles, events, Digoshen Exploring Leaders podcast, and blogs.
She also serves as Chair of the Boards Impact Forum in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Climate Governance. The Forum convenes board members, thought leaders, and experts in dialogues, webinars, and collaborative events, accelerating action on climate, AI, and sustainability.
Through her artistic practice as Novisali, Liselotte explores creativity and meaning. Her watercolors, digitally reimagined, invite reflection and renewal, offering perspectives that connect head, heart, and hand, and complementing her work with leaders and boards.
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→ Find more about Liselotte at www.liselotteengstam.com and her Google Scholar page
→ Explore Liselotte’s art and reflections at www.novisali.com and follow on Instagram @novisali_arts