Promemoria Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Cabinets
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1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and...
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Antique 1730s French Louis XVI Chaise Longues
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21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Console Tables
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21st Century and Contemporary Modern Desks and Writing Tables
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2010s French Minimalist Sofas
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Antique 1870s French Japonisme Vases
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Mid-20th Century Italian Art Deco Chaise Longues
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21st Century and Contemporary Modern Dining Room Chairs
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21st Century and Contemporary American Organic Modern Coffee and Cocktai...
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21st Century and Contemporary French Armchairs
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Lamps
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sofas
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Umbrella Stands
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ottomans and Poufs
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Console Tables
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
Marble, Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Daybeds
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Lamps
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Lamps
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Game Tables
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Lamps
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Mirrors and Full-Leng...
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Tables
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Mirrors
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Tables
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Tables
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Fabric, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Onyx, Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chaise Longues
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Umbrella Stands
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Silk, Horn
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Lamps
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Early 2000s Italian International Style Table Lamps
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Early 2000s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
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21st Century and Contemporary Italian Sofas
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2010s Italian Other Chairs
Nickel
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20th Century Italian Stools
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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.