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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Velvet, Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Furniture
Fabric, Ash
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Stone
1970s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Leather
2010s French Modern Furniture
Tortoise Shell, Wood, Paint
2010s French Modern Furniture
Lacquer, Fabric, Wood
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Hong Kong Modern Furniture
Brass, Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Brass
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Modern Furniture
Wood
2010s Thai Modern Furniture
Wood
20th Century English Modern Furniture
Wood
2010s Thai Modern Furniture
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Furniture
Fabric, Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Furniture
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Furniture
Fabric, Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Furniture
Fabric, Ash
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Ash
2010s Thai Modern Furniture
Wood
2010s Thai Modern Furniture
Wood
2010s Thai Modern Furniture
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Furniture
Marble
2010s French Modern Furniture
Wood, Fabric, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Hong Kong Modern Furniture
Brass, Enamel
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Velvet, Ash
2010s Thai Modern Furniture
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Furniture
Fabric, Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Furniture
Fabric, Ash
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Stone
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Ash
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Bronze, Brass
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Ash
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Stone
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Ash
2010s Thai Modern Furniture
Wood
2010s Thai Modern Furniture
Wood
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Ash
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Stone
2010s Thai Modern Furniture
Iron
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Ash
2010s Moroccan Modern Furniture
Leather
2010s Moroccan Modern Furniture
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Wood, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Furniture
Copper
2010s Thai Modern Furniture
Celadon, Wood
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Furniture
Wood
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Ash
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Ash
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Bronze, Brass
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Ash
2010s Moroccan Modern Furniture
Leather
2010s Moroccan Modern Furniture
Leather
2010s Thai Modern Furniture
Wood
2010s Moroccan Modern Furniture
Leather
2010s American Modern Furniture
Wood, Walnut
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Ash
2010s Moroccan Modern Furniture
Leather
2010s Moroccan Modern Furniture
Leather
1980s Vintage Modern Furniture
Laminate
2010s Thai Modern Furniture
Wood
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Ash
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Ash
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Ash
2010s Thai Modern Furniture
Wood
2010s Thai Modern Furniture
Wood
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Ash
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Ash
2010s American Modern Furniture
Oak
2010s German Modern Furniture
Leather, Oak, Walnut
2010s Modern Furniture
Brass
2010s Thai Modern Furniture
Wood
2010s Korean Modern Furniture
Polystyrene