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21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Stools
Cotton, Epoxy Resin
2010s American Modern Side Tables
Fabric
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Cotton
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21st Century and Contemporary Swedish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Textile
Vintage 1960s European Mid-Century Modern Loveseats
Aluminum, Iron
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Metal
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Brass
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dressers
Wood
Late 20th Century European Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
2010s Canadian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Brass
2010s Turkish Modern Vases
Glass
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Glass
Art Glass, Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Foam
1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Gold Plate, Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Sofas
Fabric, Bouclé
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Chairs
Rope, Hardwood
20th Century German Art Nouveau Glass
Glass
2010s Portuguese Post-Modern Side Tables
Oak, Walnut
Recent Sales
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Cork
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Vases
Cotton, Epoxy Resin
21st Century and Contemporary American Minimalist Planters, Cachepots an...
Cotton, Epoxy Resin
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.