Modern Paintings and Screens
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
20th Century Indian Modern Paintings and Screens
Paper
2010s Lebanese Modern Paintings and Screens
Marble, Metal, Brass
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings and Screens
Canvas, Paint
20th Century Chinese Modern Paintings and Screens
Glass
20th Century American Modern Paintings and Screens
Plastic, Acrylic
2010s Japanese Modern Paintings and Screens
Linen
2010s Asian Modern Paintings and Screens
Linen
21st Century and Contemporary Uzbek Modern Paintings and Screens
Cotton, Silk
Early 20th Century Burmese Modern Paintings and Screens
19th Century Chinese Antique Modern Paintings and Screens
Paper
1980s Balinese Vintage Modern Paintings and Screens
Canvas
Early 18th Century Chinese Antique Modern Paintings and Screens
Paper
Early 20th Century Indian Modern Paintings and Screens
Cotton
1880s Chinese Antique Modern Paintings and Screens
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Paintings and Screens
Silk
1930s American Vintage Modern Paintings and Screens
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Paintings and Screens
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Paintings and Screens
Paper
Early 20th Century French Modern Paintings and Screens
Mirror
2010s Japanese Modern Paintings and Screens
Linen
2010s Japanese Modern Paintings and Screens
Linen
2010s Japanese Modern Paintings and Screens
Linen
2010s Asian Modern Paintings and Screens
Linen
2010s Asian Modern Paintings and Screens
Linen
2010s Asian Modern Paintings and Screens
Linen
1980s Japanese Vintage Modern Paintings and Screens
Aluminum
20th Century Philippine Modern Paintings and Screens
Paint
2010s Japanese Modern Paintings and Screens
Paper
2010s Japanese Modern Paintings and Screens
Paper
Mid-20th Century Unknown Modern Paintings and Screens
Mid-20th Century Japanese Modern Paintings and Screens
Wood, Paper