Modern Picture Frames
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Glass
1960s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Brass
Late 20th Century American Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
1980s American Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Stone, Travertine, Marble
1980s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Picture Frames
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Picture Frames
Stainless Steel
Mid-20th Century American Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
1970s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Brass, Chrome
20th Century Italian Modern Picture Frames
Leather, Canvas
20th Century Italian Modern Picture Frames
Leather, Canvas
Early 20th Century American Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
Early 20th Century German Modern Picture Frames
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
1910s English Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Silver, Sterling Silver
Early 2000s Italian Modern Picture Frames
Stainless Steel
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Modern Picture Frames
Animal Skin
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Animal Skin
Early 20th Century American Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Animal Skin
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Modern Picture Frames
Animal Skin
Late 20th Century French Modern Picture Frames
Glass, Walnut
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Picture Frames
Animal Skin
Late 20th Century American Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
1980s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Silver Plate
1990s French Modern Picture Frames
Metal
2010s Slovenian Modern Picture Frames
Aluminum
Late 20th Century Greek Modern Picture Frames
Metal
1950s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Rhodoid, Straw
2010s Slovenian Modern Picture Frames
Oak
2010s Mexican Modern Picture Frames
Marble, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Picture Frames
Acrylic
20th Century Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Picture Frames
Silver, Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century American Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
1990s French Modern Picture Frames
Metal
Late 20th Century English Modern Picture Frames
Gold, Enamel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Plexiglass
1980s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Sterling Silver
2010s American Modern Picture Frames
Beech
1980s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century North American Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
Early 2000s Italian Modern Picture Frames
Art Glass, Blown Glass
1990s French Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Silver Plate
1980s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Leather, Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Enamel
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Chrome, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Enamel
1980s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Sterling Silver
1970s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Silver Plate
1980s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Picture Frames
Glass, Shagreen Stingray
Early 2000s Italian Modern Picture Frames
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
1990s French Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Silver Plate
1980s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Silver
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Bronze