On July 7, 2026, the Swedish Sports Museum on Djurgården in Stockholm opens its new exhibition about the Sunshine Olympics—the Olympic Games held in Stockholm in the summer of 1912. Behind the sunny name lies one of the true milestones in the history of graphic design, because it was for these very Games that the world’s first official Olympic poster was created. That poster is a reminder that a poster can be far more than decoration: it can be a piece of history. In this article, we look at what the exhibition offers, the story behind Olle Hjortzberg’s groundbreaking poster, and how the visual language of early poster art lives on on Swedish walls today.
It’s no coincidence that a sports museum can also be of interest to art lovers. In the summer of 1912, Stockholm was in the world’s spotlight, and everything created around the Games—from posters and badges to photographs—has an aesthetic that still feels surprisingly current. Visitors to the exhibition quickly discover that the boundary between sports history and art history is far thinner than one might think, and that a simple poster can contain an entire era.
The Sunshine Olympics Opens July 7, 2026—What the Exhibition Is
The Swedish Sports Museum’s new initiative is an interactive exhibition designed for families, school classes, and visitors from around the world. It opens on July 7, 2026, and will be part of the museum’s permanent exhibition for the next ten years—one of the museum’s largest and most long-term investments in years. The idea is to transport visitors back to the festive excitement that gripped Stockholm in the summer of 1912, an event that had a major impact on Swedish sport, the capital, and the entire Olympic movement.
The interactive approach makes history tangible. Visitors can try several of the events: diving from ten meters like diver Greta Johansson, shooting a pistol alongside the Carlberg twin brothers, and timing the 100-meter final. It’s history brought to life for the body as much as the mind, making the exhibition a rewarding summer outing for anyone already exploring Djurgården’s museums. The fact that the Games were called the Sunshine Olympics says something about how they are remembered—as a bright, almost idyllic moment before the First World War cast its shadow over Europe.
The Stockholm Games of 1912 were in many ways a technological leap that set the pattern for modern Games. More refined timekeeping and photo finishes were introduced to separate competitors in the closest races, and the organizers’ approach to everything from results lists to signage became a model for future organizers. So the museum’s invitation for visitors to time the 100-meter final themselves is not just a game—it connects to how these very Games changed the way sports were measured and documented. For someone interested in posters and art, it is the visual legacy that stands out most, but it is worth remembering that the overall experience of 1912 was conceived in a way few earlier events had been.
Fast facts: The Sun Olympics exhibition opens on July 7, 2026, at the Swedish Sports Museum on Djurgården and will be permanent for ten years. Visitors can, among other things, dive like Greta Johansson, shoot a pistol with the Carlberg brothers, and time the 100-meter final from the Stockholm Games of 1912.
Hjortzberg’s poster—the world’s first official Olympic poster
The real graphic sensation surrounding the 1912 Games was the poster. The Swedish artist Olle Hjortzberg (1872–1959) won the commission through an art competition, and the result was the very first official poster presented by an Olympic organizer. Before Stockholm, the Games simply had no unified, official image around which to rally—here a tradition was established that every host city has followed ever since, right up to the present day.
The design is strongly influenced by Art Nouveau, with its sweeping lines and rhythmic movement. Hjortzberg depicted the nations’ procession: a central athlete in a classical Greek pose raises the Swedish flag while athletes behind him carry their own countries’ banners toward the Games’ shared goal. The composition is both patriotic and universal at the same time—Sweden at the center, the world all around. Hjortzberg was fundamentally a church and decorative painter with a background in Christian art, but he recognized the poster’s power as a medium early on and mastered its drama.
"Before Stockholm 1912, the Olympic Games had no official poster—Hjortzberg created not just an image, but a tradition that every host city has followed ever since."
The poster also caused an uproar. The athletes’ nudity, intended as a tribute to the games of antiquity, was considered provocative despite the addition of bands to cover the figures. As a result, the poster was not distributed in every country—in some, it was simply deemed too daring. Even so, it was printed in sixteen language versions and three formats and circulated around the world. That an image could be both an official national symbol and scandalous at the same time says something about the power of the poster as a medium in the early 20th century.
From the streets of 1912 to your wall – why early poster art endures
What makes Hjortzberg’s poster and its contemporaries so well suited to wall art today is precisely their origins. They were designed to work from a distance, on a column or a city wall amid the bustle of urban life, and were therefore built around clear shapes, strong compositions, and a color palette that holds up when viewed in full. An image made to catch the eye of a passerby almost always looks good in a larger format at home – it has the inherent strength a poster needs to anchor a room.
Early poster art from the turn of the century is also a whole genre to draw inspiration from. We’ve told the broader story in our article about the history of posters, from the Belle Époque to your wall, and the graphics of the Stockholm Games are, in a way, a Swedish continuation of the French poster tradition established by Jules Chéret and Toulouse-Lautrec a few decades earlier. The same Art Nouveau lines, the same sense that a single image can say it all. If you’d like to explore the style further, our guide to retro and vintage posters is a great next step.
Tip: Want to capture the feel of 1912 without choosing a literal sports design? Look for posters with Art Nouveau lines, muted golden ochre, and a clear central composition. The graphic style evokes the era even when the subject is flowers, architecture, or a vintage travel poster.
How to choose posters inspired by early poster art – designs, sizes, and rooms
If you’d like to bring home something that captures the style of the Stockholm Olympics and early poster art, there are several ways to do it. The most literal choice is a period-style graphic poster: retro-inspired travel posters, vintage event posters, and brand graphics with bold blocks of color and strong linework. You’ll find these kinds of designs among our retro and vintage posters and our graphic posters, where shapes and blocks of color take center stage. If it’s Stockholm and the setting of 1912 that appeal to you, a poster from the famous places category works beautifully, especially a cityscape or architectural view of the capital.
When it comes to size, the same logic applies as for the original posters: give them room. A bold, graphic image in 50×70 or 70×100 has the presence it deserves and can be appreciated from a distance, just as it was originally intended. In a hallway or stairwell, where people pass by quickly, the poster’s visual clarity is especially useful. A study or reading nook, on the other hand, can accommodate more detail, and a smaller poster featuring a historical design can become a conversation piece up close.
A common mistake is to treat the historical poster like any other object and hang it too low or somewhere inconspicuous. Early poster art was designed to dominate a field of vision, and it looks best when allowed to do the same at home. Hang it at eye level on a wall where it can take center stage, rather than squeezing it between shelves and furniture. This brings out both the rhythm of the composition and its historical weight. Another lovely approach is to pair a single period-style poster with an otherwise modern, pared-back room—the contrast between the old image and the clean interior makes both stand out more clearly and makes the poster feel like a deliberate choice rather than an afterthought.
The frame can either enhance the historical feel or bring the image into the present. A slim, dark wooden frame creates a classic, almost museum-like impression that suits the period-style graphics, while a simple black or oak-colored frame lets the old poster blend into a modern home. If you want to build on the theme, you can also incorporate Swedish art from the same era; our selection of Swedish artworks includes several artists who were active around the turn of the century and in 1912.
Frequently asked questions about the Sunshine Olympics and the 1912 poster
The Sun Olympics is a summer event worth experiencing in person, but it’s also a lovely reminder that the poster as an art form has deep roots and a staying power that has lasted for more than a hundred years. Hjortzberg’s image from 1912 was the first in a long line, and that same graphic confidence is still easy to bring home today. If you want to start where this visual style was born, our graphic posters are a natural starting point – choose a design with a clear line and strong composition, give it plenty of space, and let a little of the sunshine of 1912 move onto your own wall.