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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Italian Modern Furniture
Reclaimed Wood
1980s Spanish Vintage Modern Furniture
Aluminum
2010s Ukrainian Modern Furniture
Steel
2010s Ukrainian Modern Furniture
Steel
2010s Ukrainian Modern Furniture
Steel
2010s Ukrainian Modern Furniture
Steel
Late 20th Century French Modern Furniture
Metal
2010s French Modern Furniture
Tortoise Shell, Wood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Modern Furniture
Walnut
2010s French Modern Furniture
Wood
2010s Ukrainian Modern Furniture
Steel
2010s French Modern Furniture
Wood
2010s Ukrainian Modern Furniture
Steel
2010s Ukrainian Modern Furniture
Steel
20th Century English Modern Furniture
Wood
20th Century English Modern Furniture
Wood
2010s Australian Modern Furniture
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Furniture
Copper
21st Century and Contemporary Hong Kong Modern Furniture
Brass, Enamel
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Marble
2010s British Modern Furniture
Concrete
21st Century and Contemporary Hong Kong Modern Furniture
Brass, Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Brass
2010s Portuguese Modern Furniture
Wool, Sapele Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Marble, Aluminum, Stainless Steel
2010s Indonesian Modern Furniture
Wood, Teak
1910s French Vintage Modern Furniture
Crystal, Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Marble, Aluminum, Stainless Steel
Early 1900s Chinese Antique Modern Furniture
Elm
21st Century and Contemporary Thai Modern Furniture
Wood
20th Century Korean Modern Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Thai Modern Furniture
Steel
1920s Chinese Vintage Modern Furniture
Wood
20th Century Italian Modern Furniture
Brass
2010s Swedish Modern Furniture
Stainless Steel
2010s Swedish Modern Furniture
Epoxy Resin, Oak
2010s Swedish Modern Furniture
Stainless Steel
2010s Swedish Modern Furniture
Stainless Steel
2010s Swedish Modern Furniture
Stainless Steel
2010s Swedish Modern Furniture
Bronze
2010s British Modern Furniture
Steel
1940s Vintage Modern Furniture
Cord, Oak
1970s Swiss Vintage Modern Furniture
Leather
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture
Leather
1970s French Vintage Modern Furniture
Brass