Modern Vanities
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Vanities
Leather, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Leather, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Vanities
Brass
2010s Colombian Modern Vanities
Resin, Wood
2010s Mexican Modern Vanities
Marble, Brass, Steel
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Vanities
Glass, Mirror, Maple
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Vanities
Metal
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Vanities
Wood
2010s American Modern Vanities
Steel
1990s Italian Modern Vanities
Marble, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Brass
1920s Dutch Vintage Modern Vanities
Belgian Black Marble
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Vanities
Walnut
2010s French Modern Vanities
Wood
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vanities
Brass
1970s American Vintage Modern Vanities
Mirror, Lucite
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Vanities
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Vanities
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Vanities
Oak
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Leather
2010s French Modern Vanities
Wood
2010s French Modern Vanities
Wood
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Brass
2010s French Modern Vanities
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Vanities
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Vanities
Leather, Oak
2010s French Modern Vanities
Wood
2010s French Modern Vanities
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Vanities
Oak
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Leather, Wood, Resin
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Vanities
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Vanities
Brass
2010s American Modern Vanities
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Modern Vanities
Metal
2010s Panamanian Modern Vanities
Metal
2010s American Modern Vanities
Metal
2010s Portuguese Modern Vanities
Brass
2010s Portuguese Modern Vanities
Brass
2010s Portuguese Modern Vanities
Brass
2010s Portuguese Modern Vanities
Brass
2010s German Modern Vanities
Steel, Other
2010s Peruvian Modern Vanities
Marble
2010s Peruvian Modern Vanities
Stone
2010s Peruvian Modern Vanities
Stone
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Marble, Iron
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Marble, Metal
Late 20th Century French Modern Vanities
Laminate
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vanities
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vanities
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Marble, Iron
2010s Italian Modern Vanities
Metal
20th Century European Modern Vanities
Wood
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Vanities
Glass, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Vanities
Mirror, Resin