Modern Desks and Writing Tables
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
1960s Slovak Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Opaline Glass, Wood
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Plywood
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Aluminum
Late 20th Century American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Walnut
2010s French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Plywood
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Canvas
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Plywood
2010s French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Plywood
2010s American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Plywood
2010s Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Marble
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Plywood
2010s Turkish Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Marble, Metal, Brass
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Plywood
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Plywood
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Plywood
2010s French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
20th Century North American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Glass, Oak
2010s French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Amethyst
2010s American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Bronze
1970s French Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Ash, Oak, Maple, Mahogany
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Plywood
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Ash
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Ceramic, Oak
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Plywood
2010s French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Plywood
2010s Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
2010s French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Resin
2010s French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Travertine
2010s Spanish Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Aluminum, Stainless Steel
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Plywood
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Marble, Bronze
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
1970s Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Laminate
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Aluminum
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
20th Century Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
2010s European Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Plywood, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Marble, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Steel
2010s American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Glass