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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Mid-20th Century Ecuadorean Modern Abstract Sculptures
Silver Plate
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Abstract Sculptures
Silver
2010s British Modern Abstract Sculptures
Sterling Silver
2010s British Modern Abstract Sculptures
Sterling Silver
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Abstract Sculptures
Silver Plate
2010s Italian Modern Abstract Sculptures
Brass
Late 20th Century American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Rock Crystal, Iron, Silver Leaf
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Abstract Sculptures
Silver Plate
1990s Italian Modern Abstract Sculptures
Metal, Silver Plate
2010s French Modern Abstract Sculptures
Other
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Abstract Sculptures
Silver Plate
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Abstract Sculptures
Marble
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Abstract Sculptures
Enamel
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Abstract Sculptures
Silver Plate
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Abstract Sculptures
Metal
1960s Ecuadorean Vintage Modern Abstract Sculptures
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Abstract Sculptures
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Abstract Sculptures
Bronze
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Abstract Sculptures
Silver Plate
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Abstract Sculptures
Silver
2010s European Modern Abstract Sculptures
Silver
20th Century American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Metal
2010s British Modern Abstract Sculptures
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Glass
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Metal, Silver, Brass
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Metal, Silver
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Metal, Silver
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Metal, Silver
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Stainless Steel, Steel
Late 20th Century European Modern Abstract Sculptures
Silver
2010s American Modern Abstract Sculptures
Metal, Silver