Modern More Lighting
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
2010s American Modern More Lighting
Brass, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern More Lighting
Plywood
2010s American Modern More Lighting
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern More Lighting
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern More Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern More Lighting
Brass
2010s Italian Modern More Lighting
Crystal, Brass
2010s American Modern More Lighting
Steel
2010s Italian Modern More Lighting
Crystal, Gold Plate, Brass
2010s Dutch Modern More Lighting
Brass
2010s American Modern More Lighting
Brass, Steel
2010s Austrian Modern More Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Lighting
Metal
2010s Spanish Modern More Lighting
Aluminum, Brass
2010s French Modern More Lighting
Bronze
2010s Italian Modern More Lighting
Crystal, Gold, Brass
2010s Spanish Modern More Lighting
Aluminum, Stainless Steel
2010s Spanish Modern More Lighting
Aluminum, Brass
2010s British Modern More Lighting
Metal, Brass
2010s Italian Modern More Lighting
Crystal, Brass, Bronze
2010s French Modern More Lighting
Brass
2010s Italian Modern More Lighting
Crystal, Gold Plate, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Lighting
Brass
2010s Italian Modern More Lighting
Crystal, Brass, Bronze
2010s Italian Modern More Lighting
Crystal, Gold Plate, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Lighting
Brass
2010s Italian Modern More Lighting
Crystal, Gold Plate, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern More Lighting
Ceramic, Stoneware
2010s Italian Modern More Lighting
Crystal, Gold Plate, Brass
2010s Italian Modern More Lighting
Crystal, Gold Plate, Brass
2010s Italian Modern More Lighting
Crystal, Gold Plate, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern More Lighting
Ceramic, Porcelain, Stoneware
2010s French Modern More Lighting
Aluminum, Brass
2010s French Modern More Lighting
Aluminum, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern More Lighting
Brass, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern More Lighting
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern More Lighting
Aluminum
20th Century Italian Modern More Lighting
Nickel, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern More Lighting
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern More Lighting
Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern More Lighting
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern More Lighting
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern More Lighting
2010s Brazilian Modern More Lighting
Crystal, Metal
1970s North American Vintage Modern More Lighting
Acrylic
2010s Swedish Modern More Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Modern More Lighting
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern More Lighting
Porcelain, Terracotta, Ceramic, Clay
2010s Indian Modern More Lighting
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern More Lighting
Marble, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern More Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern More Lighting
Crystal, Wire
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern More Lighting
Plywood
Late 20th Century American Modern More Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern More Lighting
Crystal, Wire