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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
20th Century Modern Picture Frames
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Wood
1910s English Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Silver, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Gold, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Picture Frames
Glass, Shagreen Stingray
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Stone, Travertine, Marble, Metal, Brass
1990s French Modern Picture Frames
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Copper, Chrome
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Chrome
Late 20th Century American Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
Late 20th Century American Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century American Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Picture Frames
Silver Plate
1970s American Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Paper, Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Silver Plate
1980s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Ceramic, Glass, Faience
Early 2000s Spanish Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
2010s American Modern Picture Frames
Aluminum, Steel
20th Century Italian Modern Picture Frames
Silver Plate
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Acrylic, Plexiglass, Lucite
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Acrylic, Plexiglass, Lucite
1990s French Modern Picture Frames
Crystal, Metal
20th Century American Modern Picture Frames
Wood
Mid-20th Century American Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
1990s German Modern Picture Frames
Crystal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Marble, Travertine, Stone, Metal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Gold Plate
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Chrome
1970s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Chrome
1980s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Silver Plate
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Chrome
1990s Italian Modern Picture Frames
Art Glass, Plexiglass, Lucite, Acrylic, Murano Glass, Glass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Acrylic, Plexiglass, Lucite
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Brass
1990s French Modern Picture Frames
Metal
1980s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Silver Plate
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century American Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century American Modern Picture Frames
Sterling Silver
1960s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Ceramic, Leather, Porcelain, Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Stone, Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Nickel
1980s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Stone, Nickel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Gold Plate
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Nickel
1960s French Vintage Modern Picture Frames
Metal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Stone, Nickel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Picture Frames
Gold Plate