Modern Western European Rugs
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Western European Rugs
Wool, Cotton
2010s Indian Modern Western European Rugs
Other
2010s Italian Modern Western European Rugs
Other
2010s Indian Modern Western European Rugs
Other
2010s Portuguese Modern Western European Rugs
Wool, Silk
2010s Portuguese Modern Western European Rugs
Wool, Silk
2010s Portuguese Modern Western European Rugs
Wool, Silk
2010s Portuguese Modern Western European Rugs
Wool, Silk
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Western European Rugs
Sheepskin
2010s Indian Modern Western European Rugs
Other
21st Century and Contemporary Bulgarian Modern Western European Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Bulgarian Modern Western European Rugs
Wool
2010s Indian Modern Western European Rugs
Wool, Nylon
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Western European Rugs
Wool, Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Western European Rugs
Wool
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Wool
2010s Indian Modern Western European Rugs
Other
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
2010s Turkish Modern Western European Rugs
Wool
2010s Turkish Modern Western European Rugs
Wool
2010s Turkish Modern Western European Rugs
Wool
20th Century Portuguese Modern Western European Rugs
Wool
2010s Turkish Modern Western European Rugs
Wool
2010s Turkish Modern Western European Rugs
Wool
2010s Turkish Modern Western European Rugs
Wool
2010s Turkish Modern Western European Rugs
Wool
2010s Turkish Modern Western European Rugs
Wool
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Western European Rugs
Wool
2010s Indian Modern Western European Rugs
Bamboo
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Western European Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Modern Western European Rugs
Goat Hair
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Western European Rugs
Alpaca
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Western European Rugs
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Western European Rugs
Jute
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Western European Rugs
Jute
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
2010s Indian Modern Western European Rugs
Other
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
2010s Indian Modern Western European Rugs
Other
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Western European Rugs
Natural Fiber