Modern Asian Art and 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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1980s Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Plexiglass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Ceramic
1980s Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Plexiglass
1980s American Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Canvas, Paint
1980s Spanish Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Aluminum
1980s Japanese Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Ceramic
1980s Japanese Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Cut Steel
1980s American Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Paint, Ceramic, Stoneware
1980s Chinese Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Paper
1980s Chinese Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Paper
1980s Balinese Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Canvas
Early 2000s Chinese Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Wood, Giltwood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Ceramic
1970s French Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Chrome
1880s Japanese Antique Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Paper
1880s Chinese Antique Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Canvas
2010s Chinese Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Canvas
1950s Japanese Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Thai Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Wood
Late 20th Century Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Faux Bamboo, Glass, Wood, Paper
19th Century Chinese Antique Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Paper
1980s Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Plexiglass
1980s American Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Brass
1980s Japanese Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Aluminum
1980s Brazilian Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Textile
1980s Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Reclaimed Wood, Canvas, Wood, Teak
1980s Japanese Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Paper
1980s Dutch Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Brass
1980s Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Canvas, Acrylic
1980s Vintage Modern Asian Art and Furniture
Resin