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Brutalist Furniture and Design

Brutalist Furniture and Design (UNITED STATES AND EUROPE)
Brutalist Furniture and Design (UNITED STATES AND EUROPE)

The term brutalism — which derives from the French word brut, meaning “raw” — was coined to describe an architectural style that emerged in the 1950s featuring monumental buildings, usually made of unornamented concrete, whose design was meant to project an air of strength and solidity. Le Corbusier essentially created the brutalist style; its best-known iterations in the United States are the Marcel Breuer–designed Whitney Museum of American Art and Paul Rudolph's Yale Art and Architecture Building.

Lately, the word “brutalist” has been adopted by the realms of design and the decorative arts to refer to cabinets, tables, and accessory pieces such as mirror frames and lighting that are made of rougher, deeply textured metals and other materials that are the visual and palpable antithesis of the sleek, smooth and suave. Brutalist design encompasses that which is crafted, hewn and worked by hand — an aesthetic rebuke (or, at least, a counterpoint) to furniture that is created using 21st-century materials and technology.

Paul Evans is Exhibit A for brutalist design. His Sculpture Front cabinets laced with high-relief patinated steel mounts have become collector's items nonpareil, while the chairs and tables in his later Cityscape series and Sculpted Bronze series are perhaps the most expressive, attention-grabbing pieces in modern American design. Other exemplars of brutalist design are Silas Seandel, the idiosyncratic New York furniture designer and sculptor whose works in metal — in particular his tables — have a kind of brawny lyricism, and Curtis Jere, a nom-de-trade for the California team of Curtis Freiler and Jerry Fels, the bold makers of expressive scorched and sheared copper and brass mirror frames and wall-mounted sculptures.

The names of other brutalist designers are, so far, unknown to history. The furniture and sculptures on 1stDibs lend unique, eccentric, human notes to an art and design collection.

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Daniel Gluck Sculptural Cocktail Table
By Daniel Gluck
Located in San Diego, CA
Brutalist sculptural bronze coffee or cocktail table with rectangular glass top by Daniel Gluck. Glass top measures 48" long, 32" wide. Table base measures 38" long, 23" wide, 14" ta...
Category

20th Century American Brutalist Brutalist Furniture and Design

Materials

Bronze

Gabor Kalman Brutalist Steel Sculpture
Located in Chicago, IL
Kalman takes steel and torch-cuts it, then contours it for a Brutalist effect. Signed base Gabor Kalman '68. This item is currently on view in our NYC Greenwich Street Location.
Category

1960s American Brutalist Vintage Brutalist Furniture and Design

Materials

Cut Steel

Brutalist coffee table after Silas Seandel
By Silas Seandel
Located in Chicago, IL
Brutalist coffee table after Silas Seandel. Glass not included. This form can take a variety of round glass tops. Structurally sound to handle the weight. The height of the metal ...
Category

20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Brutalist Furniture and Design

Materials

Metal

Metal Brutalist Lamp
Located in Toronto, Ontario
A very nice heavily worked metal lamp. Thick pierced and cut raw metal with applied welds and folds. A Brutalist masterpiece. Useable sculpture.
Category

1970s American Brutalist Vintage Brutalist Furniture and Design

Materials

Metal

Metal Brutalist Lamp
Metal Brutalist Lamp
$1,900 Sale Price
20% Off
Brutalist Steel Sculpture
Located in Montreal, QC
Brutalist patinated steel sculpture. Signed and dated 1970.
Category

1970s Canadian Vintage Brutalist Furniture and Design

Sven Aage Brutalist Hanging Lamp for Holm Sorensen & Company
By Holm Sørensen
Located in Oak Harbor, OH
Designer: Sven Aage. Manufacturer: Holm Sorensen & Company. Period or model: Mid-Century Modern. Specs: Metal. Condition: This Holm Sorensen brutalist lamp is in great vintag...
Category

1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brutalist Furniture and Design

Monumental Pair of Brutalist Torch Cut Steel Laurel Lamps Mid-Century Modern
By Laurel Lamp Company
Located in Pemberton, NJ
1960s table lamp in Brutalist style. Comprised of welded torch cut steel cubic strips with a black base. The size alone is impressive let alone the skillfully welded construction in ...
Category

1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brutalist Furniture and Design

Materials

Iron

Pair of C. Jere Style Brass Brutalist Table Lamps Laurel, Mid-Century Modern
By Curtis Jeré
Located in Pemberton, NJ
These wonderful lamps are designed by Bijan of California titled “Setarrah”. Large-scale sculptural table lamps comprised of a brass rod sunburst and torch cut curved brass ribbons...
Category

1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brutalist Furniture and Design

Materials

Brass

Solid Cast Bronze Large Scale Room Divider Syracuse, NY 1964
Located in New York, NY
Lobby room divider from the Public Safety Building in Syracuse, NY sculpted in 1964. This is a magnificent example of Mid-Century Modern design. Composed of alternating pod-shaped s...
Category

1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brutalist Furniture and Design

Materials

Bronze

Related Items
Brutalist pendant lamp by Svend Aage Holm Sorensen for Sørensen & Co. Denmark
By Svend Aage Holm Sørensen, Holm Sørensen
Located in Steenwijk, NL
This stunning brutalist pendant lamp, model 6407, was designed by Svend Aage Holm Sørensen for Sørensen & Co in Denmark in the 1960's. The use and work of oxidised brass makes this l...
Category

1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brutalist Furniture and Design

Materials

Metal, Brass

Scandinavian Glass & Iron Chandelier by Svend Aage Holm Sorensen
By Holm Sørensen
Located in Vienna, AT
Iron frame black painted with yelow and orange glass elements fixed with brass ring and holders. Fitted with ten E14 sockets. Designed in Danmark in the 1950s by Svend Aage Holm Sore...
Category

1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Brutalist Furniture and Design

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Iron

Silas Seandel Silver Leafed Brutalist Torch Cut Coffee Table
By Silas Seandel
Located in Dallas, TX
Silver leafed torch cut coffee table by Silas Seandel. Retains original glass top. Base measures: 44 x 21".
Category

Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Brutalist Furniture and Design

Materials

Metal

Brutalist Mid-Century Modern Sculptural Cocktail Table with Glass & Gilt wood
Located in Port Jervis, NY
Fabulous hand carved wooden frame cocktail table. Carved florets and acanthus leaves surround the frame. Recessed is a flat Gilt top with a sheet of glass for protection. Base consists of barley twist legs and stretcher. Ball and iron claw...
Category

1960s American Brutalist Vintage Brutalist Furniture and Design

Materials

Gold Leaf, Iron

Brutalist Coffee Table by Silas Seandel
By Silas Seandel
Located in New York, NY
Torch cut iron base, with original plate glass top (.5"). Unusual to find signed and dated examples ( Seandel '75). Coffee, Cocktail table, iron with original faux bronze finish. Cl...
Category

1970s American Brutalist Vintage Brutalist Furniture and Design

Materials

Iron

James Bearden Torch Cut Steel Brutalist Sculpture
By James Bearden
Located in Palm Springs, CA
A wonderful Brutalist torch cut steel sculpture by the noted Des Moines Iowa Artist James Bearden. This piece was acquired directly from the artist. Great color and patina. In good ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Brutalist Furniture and Design

Materials

Steel

Brutalist Welded Steel Sculpture by California Artist Paul Kasper
By Paul Kasper
Located in Palm Springs, CA
Welded steel Brutalist sculpture by Paul Kasper, circa 1960s. Was purchased from the estate of Paul Kasper. Biography Paul Kasper. Paul Charles Kasper was born in Whiting, I...
Category

1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Brutalist Furniture and Design

Materials

Steel

Brutalist Chain Link Sculpture
Located in Malibu, CA
Antique chain sculpture that defies gravity. The term brutalism — which derives from the French word brut, meaning “raw” — was coined to describe this style trend that emerged in the...
Category

1960s Brutalist Vintage Brutalist Furniture and Design

Materials

Iron

Brutalist Chain Link Sculpture
Brutalist Chain Link Sculpture
$1,312 Sale Price
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H 38 in W 10 in D 8 in
Mid-Century Modern Sculptural Redwood Trunk Cocktail Table
Located in Port Jervis, NY
Fabulous and large Sculptural section of Redwood from California. Flat top measures 20 x 16, while the base is 24 x 24 with a height of 16. Piece of glass either round or square can ...
Category

1960s American Organic Modern Vintage Brutalist Furniture and Design

Materials

Hardwood

Sculptural Brutalist Metal Lamps By Julian Chichester
By Julian Chichester
Located in Chamblee, GA
Abstract figural lamp pair by Julian Chichester. Torch cut steel with patinated gold finish. From the Mr. Brown London collection. Like new, very nice condition.
Category

21st Century and Contemporary English Brutalist Brutalist Furniture and Design

Materials

Steel

Sculptural Brutalist Metal Lamps By Julian Chichester
Sculptural Brutalist Metal Lamps By Julian Chichester
$2,200 / set
H 33.5 in W 13.5 in D 10 in
Pair of Brutalist Copper Patinated Lamps
Located in Hanover, MA
Pair 1960's Mid Century Floor (or tall table) Lamps in the manner of Stewart Ross James for Hansen or Paul Evans. Probably by Laurel Lamp Co. This interesting pair of lamps is each...
Category

1960s American Brutalist Vintage Brutalist Furniture and Design

Materials

Copper

Pair of Brutalist Copper Patinated Lamps
Pair of Brutalist Copper Patinated Lamps
$1,600 / set
H 46 in W 9 in D 9 in
Pendant Lamp by Svend Aage Holm Sorensen
By Lightolier, Svend Aage Holm Sørensen
Located in South Charleston, WV
16.5" diameter and 10" tall, with a 10" drop (adjustable with new cord of course). Porcelain single socket. Teak to upper and lower parts of the lamp. Pendant Lamp by Svend Aage Holm...
Category

Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Brutalist Furniture and Design

Materials

Copper

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