Emanuele Magini
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sofas
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coat Racks and Stands
Metal
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Bronze
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Sectional Sofas
Fabric
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Brass
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coat Racks and Stands
Brass
Vintage 1950s Coat Racks and Stands
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Hollywood Regency Coat Racks and Stands
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Commodes and Chests of Drawers
Brass
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Coat Racks and Stands
Brass
Antique Late 19th Century Unknown Gothic Side Chairs
Fabric, Oak, Paint
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Fabric, Walnut
2010s Belgian Modern Coat Racks and Stands
Brass, Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sofas
Foam, Wood
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Brass
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Leather
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Brass, Steel
Vintage 1960s Italian Hollywood Regency Coat Racks and Stands
Marble, Brass
A Close Look at Modern Furniture
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”
Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.
Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.
It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.