1st Olympiad of Children's Painting

The conception and organization of the first modern Olympic Games was a global Greek initiative. This great achievement is vividly portrayed in the artworks created by the young generation of Greece, the children and youth, who proudly present this unique art collection!   The First Contemporary Olympics, “Olympia” as they were known, were organized by the Greeks in Athens in 1859,

decades before the well-known international Olympic Games of 1896. In the second half of the 19th century a spark of inspiration was needed to activate the developmental path of the newly established Greek state. This spark was given by Evangelos Zappas, who envisioned, organized and institutionalized the first modern Olympic Games in modern Greece. The first Olympia in the city of Pallada in 1859 formed the bridge between the ancient and the modern games, emphasizing the inextricable relationship of the modern Greeks with their glorious past. 

In their imaginative artworks, the children and youth of Greece portray the Olympic concept which was revived during the first Olympics that took place in Athens in 1859, recognized as the first comprehensive effort to organize the Olympic Games in the new era. The first modern Olympics were attended by 20,000 spectators, among members of the government, the military and municipal authorities of Athens and thousands of ordinary citizens. Ideals of rivalry, solidarity, peace, truce, participation, discipline, persistence, effort, friendship, equality, respect, brotherhood, struggle, intercultural relations, coexistence.

With its colourful depictions by young artists of the first building that was built worldwide to serve Olympic needs, the Zappeion Megaron. Following the austerity of the Athenian neoclassical school, the building is one of the purest neoclassical samples, perfectly adapted to the Greek light. With the neoclassical glamor that distinguishes it, the Zappeion Megaron was inaugurated on 20 October 1888.

Young artists are taught by the first "Olympia" in 1859, which began the familiarization of a whole generation of Greeks with the classic concept of Olympism, so that the institution of the Olympic Games was imprinted on the conscience of the Greeks as interwoven with the glorious history of their ancestors. Children paint with creative exuberance and send out to the world with enthusiasm the message of collaboration and cooperation.  

Children and youth are inspired by the first modern revival of the ancient Olympic Games in Athens in 1859 echoing  the odes of Pindar:

“Gold, like a gleaming fire

by night, outshines all pride of wealth beside.

But, my heart, would you chant the glory of games,

look never beyond the sun

by day for any star shining brighter through the deserted air,

nor any contest than Olympia greater to sing”.