Modern Paintings
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1970s French Vintage Modern Paintings
Acrylic
1970s French Vintage Modern Paintings
Acrylic
1930s German Vintage Modern Paintings
Paper
2010s German Modern Paintings
Canvas
2010s German Modern Paintings
Canvas
20th Century American Modern Paintings
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Paintings
Rock Crystal
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Paintings
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Paintings
Cotton, Acrylic, Paper
20th Century French Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
2010s Spanish Modern Paintings
Resin
1990s Romanian Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Paintings
Canvas
Late 20th Century Dutch Modern Paintings
Canvas
Late 20th Century French Modern Paintings
Wood, Paint, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Wood
2010s Brazilian Modern Paintings
Wood
1950s French Vintage Modern Paintings
Glass, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Paintings
Paper
1970s German Vintage Modern Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Paintings
Paper
Late 20th Century Polish Modern Paintings
Wood, Canvas
Late 20th Century English Modern Paintings
Canvas, Giltwood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Paint
1970s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
1960s Swedish Vintage Modern Paintings
Other
1970s Scandinavian Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
1950s Swedish Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
Mid-20th Century Swedish Modern Paintings
Canvas
1960s Swedish Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
Late 20th Century Irish Modern Paintings
Canvas
1990s Romanian Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
1970s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Australian Modern Paintings
Canvas
Late 20th Century Irish Modern Paintings
Canvas
20th Century Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1920s Danish Vintage Modern Paintings
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Paintings
Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Paintings
Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Paintings
Hardwood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Paintings
Paint
20th Century Unknown Modern Paintings
Paint
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Paintings
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Paintings
Abalone, Canvas, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary North American Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas