Modern Contemporary Art
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Late 20th Century British Modern Contemporary Art
Papercord, Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic, Wood
Late 20th Century French Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Wood
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Copper
21st Century and Contemporary Balkan Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Acrylic, Fiberglass
1990s Australian Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Australian Modern Contemporary Art
Glass, Wood, Paper
1960s European Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
20th Century Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Sycamore, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Gold
Late 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paint
1990s English Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s Mexican Modern Contemporary Art
Resin
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Giltwood
1980s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Wood
1990s British Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
Composition
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
2010s Mexican Modern Contemporary Art
Marble
2010s Mexican Modern Contemporary Art
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Contemporary Art
Textile, Canvas, Paint
2010s Mexican Modern Contemporary Art
Resin
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Clay, Organic Material
1990s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
Early 2000s American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Jute, Wood
2010s European Modern Contemporary Art
Wool, Cotton, Acrylic
2010s Modern Contemporary Art
Resin
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Glass, Wood, Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Wood
1970s French Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Clay, Organic Material
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic, Wood, Paint, Paper
Early 2000s North American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Resin, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Clay, Organic Material
Late 20th Century Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Clay, Organic Material
Late 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Resin, Acrylic
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
20th Century Chinese Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Wood, Paint
1990s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paint
20th Century English Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
1970s French Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Clay, Organic Material
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paint
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Clay, Organic Material
2010s Dutch Modern Contemporary Art
Metal, Brass
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum