Modern Abstract Sculptures
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Abstract Sculptures
Glass, Art Glass, Cut Glass, Murano Glass
1980s English Vintage Modern Abstract Sculptures
Stoneware
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Abstract Sculptures
Murano Glass
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Bronze
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic
Early 20th Century French Modern Abstract Sculptures
Bronze
Early 2000s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Blown Glass
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Bronze
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Steel, Cut Steel
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Epoxy Resin, Lucite
2010s Italian Modern Abstract Sculptures
Bronze
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Copper
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Bronze
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Abstract Sculptures
Murano Glass
20th Century Modern Abstract Sculptures
Acrylic, Lucite
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Bronze
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Bronze, Steel
1990s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Acrylic, Fiberglass
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Steel, Iron
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Abstract Sculptures
Plexiglass
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Acrylic, Lucite
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic
1970s Canadian Vintage Modern Abstract Sculptures
Aluminum
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Abstract Sculptures
Art Glass
2010s Spanish Modern Abstract Sculptures
Metal
20th Century North American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Bronze
Late 20th Century American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Bronze
20th Century North American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Bronze
2010s Swedish Modern Abstract Sculptures
Porcelain
2010s Spanish Modern Abstract Sculptures
Metal
Late 20th Century North American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Lucite
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Metal, Brass, Bronze, Stainless Steel, Wire
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Abstract Sculptures
Murano Glass
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Foam, Resin, Plaster, Paint, Wood
2010s South African Modern Abstract Sculptures
Wood
2010s Swedish Modern Abstract Sculptures
Porcelain
Late 20th Century Finnish Modern Abstract Sculptures
Art Glass
2010s Swedish Modern Abstract Sculptures
Porcelain
2010s British Modern Abstract Sculptures
Metal, Steel, Iron
2010s British Modern Abstract Sculptures
Metal, Steel, Iron
2010s British Modern Abstract Sculptures
Metal, Steel, Iron
2010s Swedish Modern Abstract Sculptures
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Abstract Sculptures
Composition
1990s Czech Modern Abstract Sculptures
Crystal
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Metal, Brass, Bronze, Stainless Steel, Wire
2010s Swedish Modern Abstract Sculptures
Porcelain
Early 2000s Italian Modern Abstract Sculptures
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Abstract Sculptures
Ceramic
2010s Swedish Modern Abstract Sculptures
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Abstract Sculptures
Composition