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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 French Modern Figurative Sculptures
Stone
Late 20th Century American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Ceramic
20th Century Unknown Modern Figurative Sculptures
Wire
1940s French Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
Late 20th Century German Modern Figurative Sculptures
Porcelain
1930s French Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
Plaster
1950s French Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
Plaster
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Glass, Plastic
1950s French Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
Terracotta
1970s European Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Marble, Alabaster
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Resin
20th Century French Modern Figurative Sculptures
Wood
Early 2000s Central African Modern Figurative Sculptures
Resin
2010s Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Blown Glass, Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Paint
Early 2000s Israeli Modern Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
2010s Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Glass
Early 20th Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
Late 20th Century French Modern Figurative Sculptures
Belgian Black Marble, Bronze
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
Art Glass
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Figurative Sculptures
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Figurative Sculptures
Porcelain
1990s Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Plaster
1990s American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Ceramic, Paint
2010s Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Ceramic, Paint
2010s Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Ceramic, Paint
2010s Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Ceramic, Paint
Late 20th Century German Modern Figurative Sculptures
Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Figurative Sculptures
Stone
2010s Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Aluminum
Early 20th Century Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Porcelain
1990s American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Marble, Bronze, Chrome
1970s American Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
Wood, Paint
20th Century Austrian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
Early 2000s American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Ceramic
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
Ceramic
2010s Portuguese Modern Figurative Sculptures
Brass
2010s French Modern Figurative Sculptures
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Modern Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
20th Century Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Terracotta
20th Century Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Carrara Marble
1990s American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Ceramic, Plaster
Late 20th Century French Modern Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
1950s Swedish Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
Ceramic
1970s American Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
Earthenware
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
2010s American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Maple, Walnut
2010s Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Figurative Sculptures
Murano Glass
1980s French Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
2010s American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Marble, Alabaster
1980s Vintage Modern Figurative Sculptures
Bronze
Early 2000s Hong Kong Modern Figurative Sculptures
Plastic, Rubber