Modern Wall Decorations
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1960s Spanish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Other
1980s American Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Other
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Wall Decorations
Steel
2010s British Modern Wall Decorations
Glass
1940s French Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
1990s Dutch Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
Late 20th Century British Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Wall Decorations
Acrylic, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Japanese Modern Wall Decorations
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Decorations
Onyx, Brass
1940s American Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Paint, Paper
2010s German Modern Wall Decorations
Wood, Paint
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Wall Decorations
Pottery
Early 2000s American Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Wall Decorations
Cotton, Paper, Acrylic
2010s Indian Modern Wall Decorations
Wool
2010s American Modern Wall Decorations
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Decorations
Brass
2010s American Modern Wall Decorations
Paint, Paper
2010s American Modern Wall Decorations
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Decorations
Brass
2010s American Modern Wall Decorations
Paint, Paper
2010s American Modern Wall Decorations
Paint, Paper
2010s American Modern Wall Decorations
Paper, Paint
2010s American Modern Wall Decorations
Paper, Paint
2010s American Modern Wall Decorations
Paper, Paint
2010s American Modern Wall Decorations
Paint, Paper
2010s American Modern Wall Decorations
Paint, Paper
2010s American Modern Wall Decorations
Paper, Paint
2010s American Modern Wall Decorations
Clay, Paper
2010s American Modern Wall Decorations
Paper, Paint
2010s American Modern Wall Decorations
Paper, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Wall Decorations
Wool, Cotton
Early 2000s American Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Wall Decorations
Art Glass, Fiberglass, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Wall Decorations
Art Glass, Fiberglass, Paint
Late 20th Century American Modern Wall Decorations
Metal
Early 2000s Finnish Modern Wall Decorations
Glass, Wood, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Decorations
Crystal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Wall Decorations
Art Glass, Fiberglass, Paint
2010s American Modern Wall Decorations
Silver Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Wall Decorations
Carrara Marble, Granite, Onyx, Gold Leaf, Stainless Steel, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Nepalese Modern Wall Decorations
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Wall Decorations
Resin, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Wall Decorations
Marble, Onyx, Carrara Marble, Gold Leaf, Brass, Stainless Steel
1930s Belgian Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas
1960s Spanish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
2010s North American Modern Wall Decorations
Ceramic
Late 20th Century Mexican Modern Wall Decorations
Glass, Wood, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Decorations
Crystal, Brass
2010s French Modern Wall Decorations
Metal
1990s Mexican Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
Late 20th Century French Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
1990s Mexican Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Japanese Modern Wall Decorations
Marble