In commemoration of the city which hosted the first Olympic Games of the modern era, Athens in 1896 is represented in the foreground, with the Panathenaic Stadium behind and the Acropolis in the background.
Details
Title: 1896 Olympic Celebration
Creator Lifespan: 26 February 1933
Creator Nationality: French
Creator Gender: Male
Creator Birth Place: Paris, France
Date Created: 1996
Location Created: France
Physical Dimensions: w755 x h980 cm (Complete)
Painter: Michel Delacroix
Description: Printing: CXXXVI/CCXXV.Signed: Michel Delacroix lower right. Logo of the USOC
Collection information: In 1995, Delacroix also became an Official Artist of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG), which commissioned him to celebrate the site of the 1996 Games in a work entitled Atlanta 1896-1996.
Artistic school or movement: After studying two years at the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris, Delacroix temporarily interrupted his formal education to explore the city and worked for Marcel Marceau. Continuing to paint and experiment with a variety of techniques, Delacroix developed his signature style: an acclaimed master of the Naïf tradition who has devoted five decades to painting Paris, the magical place where he was born. Capturing impressions of nostalgic and romantic moments of historical scenes of Paris, his works are created with the skill and knowledge of the well-educated artist.
Delacroix’s work has been featured in over 300 solo exhibitions in the USA alone and many more in Europe and Asia.
In 1994, Michel Delacroix was named an Official Artist of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games by the United States Olympic Committee and commissioned to paint a work marking the one hundredth anniversary of the modern Olympic Games. The work, entitled 1896 Olympics, was used to create an Official Poster for the 1996 Games and a special Limited Edition.