Brutalist Candlesticks
The design of brutalist furniture encompasses that which is crafted, hewn and worked by hand — an aesthetic rebuke (or, at least, a counterpoint) to furniture that is created using 21st-century materials and technology. Lately, the word “brutalist” has been adopted by the realms of furniture design and the decorative arts to refer to chairs, cabinets, tables and accessory pieces such as mirror frames and lighting that are made of rougher, deeply textured metals and other materials that are the visual and palpable antithesis of the sleek, smooth and suave.
ORIGINS OF BRUTALIST FURNITURE DESIGN
- Brutalism emerged during the mid-20th century
- Term coined by architecture critic Reyner Banham
- Originated in the United Kingdom
- Brutalist architecture gained popularity in the United States beginning in the early 1960s
- Inaugural brutalist projects include Unité d'habitation and the city of Chandigarh, India, both of which owe to influential architect Charles-Édouard “Le Corbusier” Jeanneret
- Le Corbusier’s cousin, Pierre Jeanneret, designed hundreds of chairs, tables, cabinets and lamps for Chandigarh
- Informed by the Bauhaus, constructivism, modernism and the International Style; part of mid-century modernism
- Contrasted starkly with Beaux Arts style
CHARACTERISTICS OF BRUTALIST FURNITURE DESIGN
- Use of industrial materials — tubular steel, concrete, glass, granite
- Prioritizes functionalism, minimalism and utilization of negative space
- Spare silhouettes, pronounced geometric shapes
- Stripped-down, natural look; rugged textures, modular construction
- Interiors featuring airy visual flow and reliance on neutral palettes
BRUTALIST FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
VINTAGE BRUTALIST FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
The term brutalism — which derives from the French word brut, meaning “raw” — was coined by architecture critic Reyner Banham to describe an architectural style that emerged in the 1950s featuring monumental buildings, usually made of unornamented concrete, whose design was meant to project an air of strength and solidity.
Le Corbusier essentially created the brutalist style; its best-known iterations in the United States are the Whitney Museum of American Art, which was designed by Marcel Breuer, and Paul Rudolph's Yale Art and Architecture Building. The severe style might have been the most criticized architectural movement of the 20th century, even if it was an honest attempt to celebrate the beauty of raw material. But while the brutalist government buildings in Washington, D.C., seemingly bask in their un-beauty, brutalist interior design and decor is much more lyrical, at times taking on a whimsical, romantic quality that its exterior counterparts lack.
Paul Evans is Exhibit A for brutalist furniture design. His Sculpture Front cabinets laced with high-relief patinated steel mounts have become collector's items nonpareil, while the chairs, coffee table and dining table in his later Cityscape series and Sculpted Bronze series for Directional Furniture are perhaps the most expressive, attention-grabbing pieces in American modern design. Other exemplary brutalist designers are Silas Seandel, the idiosyncratic New York furniture designer and sculptor whose works in metal — in particular his tables — have a kind of brawny lyricism, and Curtis Jere, a nom-de-trade for the California team of Curtis Freiler and Jerry Fels, the bold makers of expressive scorched and sheared copper and brass mirror frames and wall-mounted sculptures.
Brutalist furniture and sculptures remain popular with interior designers and can lend unique, eccentric, human notes to an art and design collection in any home.
Find authentic vintage brutalist chairs, coffee tables, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.
1980s French Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Bronze
1940s Dutch Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Brass, Iron
1960s English Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Iron
Mid-20th Century Brutalist Candlesticks
Bronze
Mid-20th Century European Brutalist Candlesticks
Iron
1970s Italian Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Travertine
20th Century European Brutalist Candlesticks
Bronze
1960s European Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Bronze
Mid-20th Century German Brutalist Candlesticks
Bronze
1970s Italian Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Travertine
1960s Swiss Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Metal
1960s German Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Metal, Iron
1960s German Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Brass
Mid-20th Century French Brutalist Candlesticks
Metal, Iron, Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century Hungarian Brutalist Candlesticks
Brass, Enamel
1970s Italian Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Travertine
Early 20th Century Spanish Brutalist Candlesticks
Wrought Iron, Gold Leaf
1950s French Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Wrought Iron
1970s German Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Bronze
Late 20th Century American Brutalist Candlesticks
Bronze, Gold Leaf
1970s Spanish Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Brass, Steel
1970s German Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Iron
1970s French Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Iron
1950s French Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Wrought Iron
Late 20th Century North American Brutalist Candlesticks
Concrete
1950s European Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Steel
1990s German Brutalist Candlesticks
Stainless Steel
Early 20th Century French Brutalist Candlesticks
Wrought Iron
1970s German Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Bronze
1950s French Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Wrought Iron
1970s German Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Metal
Mid-20th Century Swiss Brutalist Candlesticks
Wrought Iron
1970s German Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Bronze
20th Century Brutalist Candlesticks
Iron
1950s Dutch Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Iron
Mid-20th Century European Brutalist Candlesticks
Wrought Iron
1960s Swiss Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Metal
1970s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Metal
1980s American Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Iron
Mid-20th Century Spanish Brutalist Candlesticks
Aluminum, Brass
1970s French Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Brass
1960s Swiss Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Metal
2010s Spanish Brutalist Candlesticks
Brass
1970s German Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Bronze
1970s French Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Bronze
1960s Israeli Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Stone, Iron
1770s Mexican Antique Brutalist Candlesticks
Iron
2010s Spanish Brutalist Candlesticks
Brass, Aluminum
Mid-20th Century German Brutalist Candlesticks
Aluminum, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary English Brutalist Candlesticks
Metal
1980s Scandinavian Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Ceramic
2010s French Brutalist Candlesticks
Carrara Marble
2010s French Brutalist Candlesticks
Carrara Marble
1960s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Wrought Iron
20th Century Austrian Brutalist Candlesticks
Brass
Early 20th Century Spanish Brutalist Candlesticks
Wrought Iron, Gold Leaf
1970s Dutch Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Enamel
1970s German Vintage Brutalist Candlesticks
Bronze