Grand Dusty White
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Russian and Scandinavian Rugs
Wool
2010s Swedish Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Wool, Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Russian and Scandinavian Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Russian and Scandinavian Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Russian and Scandinavian Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Russian and Scandinavian Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Russian and Scandinavian Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Russian and Scandinavian Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Russian and Scandinavian Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Russian and Scandinavian Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Russian and Scandinavian Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Russian and Scandinavian Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Russian and Scandinavian Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Russian and Scandinavian Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Table Lamps
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Table Lamps
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Russian and Scandinavian Rugs
Wool
Vintage 1980s English Modern Photography
Paper
Vintage 1980s English Modern Photography
Paper
People Also Browsed
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Russian and Scandinavian Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Polish Organic Modern Wall Mirrors
Stainless Steel
2010s South African Minimalist Pedestals
Hardwood
2010s Canadian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and...
Brass
2010s Mexican American Craftsman Center Tables
Hardwood, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Russian and Scandinavian Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount
Metal, Brass
2010s British Minimalist Wall Lights and Sconces
Wood, Oak, Paper
2010s Scandinavian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass, Bronze
2010s American Modern Table Lamps
Steel, Brass, Silver Leaf
2010s Brazilian Swivel Chairs
Fabric, Wood
2010s American Modern Stools
Oak
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Brass, Aluminum, Bronze
2010s American Modern Flush Mount
Nickel, Brass, Bronze
Recent Sales
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Russian and Scandinavian Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Russian and Scandinavian Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Russian and Scandinavian Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Indian Rugs
Wool
Grand Dusty White For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Grand Dusty White?
A Close Look at Modern Furniture
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.