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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Mid-20th Century American Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Picture Frames
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Amethyst, Gold
Mid-20th Century American Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Silver Plate
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Gold, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Picture Frames
Glass, Shagreen Stingray
1980s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Sterling Silver
1980s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Hong Kong Modern Picture Frames
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Glass
20th Century French Modern Picture Frames
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal
1990s Italian Modern Picture Frames
Paper, Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Glass, Wood, Paper
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Glass, Wood, Paper
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Glass, Wood, Paper
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Glass, Wood, Paper
1990s Italian Modern Picture Frames
Murano Glass
1930s American Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Glass, Giltwood, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Thai Modern Picture Frames
Wood, Faux Leather
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver, Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Silver
1990s French Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Silver Plate
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Plexiglass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Gold Plate
1960s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Ceramic, Leather, Porcelain, Glass
1980s American Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Travertine, Marble, Stone
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century French Modern Picture Frames
Crayon, Paint, Paper
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Picture Frames
Brass, Enamel
2010s Italian Modern Picture Frames
Leather, Suede
1980s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver, Metal
Early 2000s Spanish Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
20th Century Mexican Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
1990s French Modern Picture Frames
Crystal, Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Ceramic
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Wood
Early 20th Century American Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
1950s American Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Silver Leaf
Late 20th Century American Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
1950s American Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Glass, Giltwood, Paint, Paper
1920s American Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Paper
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Brass
1960s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Glass, Mirror
1980s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Ceramic, Faience, Glass
1910s English Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Silver, Sterling Silver
1980s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Ceramic, Faience, Glass
2010s Hong Kong Modern Picture Frames
Faux Leather
Early 2000s North American Modern Picture Frames
Lucite
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Brass
1990s French Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Silver Plate
1980s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Leather, Glass