Modern Figurative 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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Figurative Sculptures
Metal, Brass
20th Century European Modern Figurative Sculptures
Marble, Carrara Marble
2010s Greek Modern Figurative Sculptures
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Brass
2010s Greek Modern Figurative Sculptures
Marble
20th Century American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Alabaster, Marble
1990s Israeli Modern Figurative Sculptures
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Figurative Sculptures
Brass, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Marble, Alabaster
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Marble, Alabaster
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Marble, Alabaster
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Marble
1990s Modern Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Marble
2010s British Modern Figurative Sculptures
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Figurative Sculptures
Gold Leaf, Bronze
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
Porcelain
20th Century North American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Ceramic
Early 20th Century Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Onyx, Marble
1960s German Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
1970s Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
Fiberglass
Early 1900s French Antique Modern Figurative Sculptures
Glass, Ceramic
1960s Dutch Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
Ceramic
2010s American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Metal
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Glass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
20th Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Fabric, Plastic
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
Plaster