Rodolfo Dordoni Nightstands
2010s Italian Modern Night Stands
Palisander, Lacquer
People Also Browsed
2010s South African Minimalist Pedestals
Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Benches
Fabric, Velvet, Lacquer, Wood
2010s South African Minimalist Pedestals
Oak, Walnut
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel, Iron
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Brass
Early 2000s Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Stainless Steel
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Beds and Bed Frames
Brass
Vintage 1970s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Fiberglass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
Brass
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Bamboo, Rattan, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
Rosewood
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
Wood
2010s American Modern Night Stands
Maple, Walnut
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
Walnut
Recent Sales
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
Nickel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Night Stands
Leather, Lacquer
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Night Stands
Leather, Lacquer
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.