Modern Statues
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Modern Statues
Fiberglass
Early 2000s European Modern Statues
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Statues
Iron
Late 20th Century Modern Statues
Iron
Late 20th Century American Modern Statues
Bronze
1990s European Modern Statues
Bronze
1970s French Vintage Modern Statues
Stainless Steel
1990s European Modern Statues
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Statues
Marble, Rock Crystal
Late 20th Century American Modern Statues
Iron
1990s European Modern Statues
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Statues
Bronze
20th Century Unknown Modern Statues
Bronze
1990s American Modern Statues
Bronze
1950s English Vintage Modern Statues
Cast Stone
2010s Spanish Modern Statues
Stoneware
Late 20th Century American Modern Statues
Metal
1970s French Vintage Modern Statues
Stainless Steel
20th Century European Modern Statues
Iron
Late 20th Century Modern Statues
Steel
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Statues
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Statues
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Statues
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Statues
Iron
2010s Spanish Modern Statues
Stoneware
Mid-20th Century Modern Statues
Acrylic
2010s American Modern Statues
Concrete, Bronze, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Statues
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Statues
Fiberglass
20th Century German Modern Statues
Ceramic
1980s American Vintage Modern Statues
Steel, Stainless Steel
2010s Argentine Modern Statues
Granite
2010s Argentine Modern Statues
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Corsican Modern Statues
Sandstone