The design of brutalist furniture encompasses that which is crafted, hewn and worked by hand — an aesthetic rebuke (or, at least, a counterpoint) to furniture that is created using 21st-century materials and technology. Lately, the word “brutalist” has been adopted by the realms of furniture design and the decorative arts to refer to chairs, cabinets, tables and accessory pieces such as mirror frames and lighting that are made of rougher, deeply textured metals and other materials that are the visual and palpable antithesis of the sleek, smooth and suave.
ORIGINS OF BRUTALIST FURNITURE DESIGN
CHARACTERISTICS OF BRUTALIST FURNITURE DESIGN
BRUTALIST FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
VINTAGE BRUTALIST FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
The term brutalism — which derives from the French word brut, meaning “raw” — was coined by architecture critic Reyner Banham to describe an architectural style that emerged in the 1950s featuring monumental buildings, usually made of unornamented concrete, whose design was meant to project an air of strength and solidity.
Le Corbusier essentially created the brutalist style; its best-known iterations in the United States are the Whitney Museum of American Art, which was designed by Marcel Breuer, and Paul Rudolph's Yale Art and Architecture Building. The severe style might have been the most criticized architectural movement of the 20th century, even if it was an honest attempt to celebrate the beauty of raw material. But while the brutalist government buildings in Washington, D.C., seemingly bask in their un-beauty, brutalist interior design and decor is much more lyrical, at times taking on a whimsical, romantic quality that its exterior counterparts lack.
Paul Evans is Exhibit A for brutalist furniture design. His Sculpture Front cabinets laced with high-relief patinated steel mounts have become collector's items nonpareil, while the chairs, coffee table and dining table in his later Cityscape series and Sculpted Bronze series for Directional Furniture are perhaps the most expressive, attention-grabbing pieces in American modern design. Other exemplary brutalist designers are Silas Seandel, the idiosyncratic New York furniture designer and sculptor whose works in metal — in particular his tables — have a kind of brawny lyricism, and Curtis Jere, a nom-de-trade for the California team of Curtis Freiler and Jerry Fels, the bold makers of expressive scorched and sheared copper and brass mirror frames and wall-mounted sculptures.
Brutalist furniture and sculptures remain popular with interior designers and can lend unique, eccentric, human notes to an art and design collection in any home.
Find authentic vintage brutalist chairs, coffee tables, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Abstract Modern Wood Sculpture, Still Stand No1 by Joel Escalona
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
“Still Stand” sculptures by Joel Escalona Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and serene grace. Each one is a testament to the power of the material...
Hardwood
Joel Escalona's Sleek Dark Totem in Black Solid Wood, Still Stand No92
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
Joel Escalona's Sleek Dark Totem in Black Solid Wood, Still Stand No92 —— Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and serene grace. Each one is a testam...
Hardwood
Unveiling Modern Elegance, Dark Black Solid Wood, Still Stand No89 by NONO
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
Unveiling Modern Elegance, Dark Black Solid Wood, Still Stand No89 by NONO —— Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and serene grace. Each one is a t...
Hardwood
Abstract Beauty in Black Solid Wood, Escalona's Work, Still Stand No79
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
Abstract Beauty in Black Solid Wood, Escalona's Work, Still Stand No79 —— Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and serene grace. Each one is a testa...
Hardwood
Dark, Elegant Black Solid Wood Design Materializes, Still Stand No91
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
Dark, Elegant Black Solid Wood Design Materializes, Still Stand No91 —— Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and serene grace. Each one is a testame...
Hardwood
Abstract Elegance, Dark, Sleek Black Solid Wood by Escalona, Still Stand No98
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
Abstract Elegance, Dark, Sleek Black Solid Wood by Escalona, Still Stand No98 —— Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and serene grace. Each one is a...
Hardwood
Carved from Elegance, Still Stand No80 in Burned Oak by NONO
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
Carved from Elegance, Still Stand No80 in Burned Oak by NONO —— Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and serene grace. Each one is a testament to th...
Hardwood
NONO Crafts Dark Elegance, Biomorphic Burned Oak, Still Stand No93
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
NONO Crafts Dark Elegance, Biomorphic Burned Oak, Still Stand No93—— Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and serene grace. ...
Hardwood
$14,320Sale Price / item|20% Off
Dark Elegance, Biomorphic Black Solid Wood Crafted by NONO, Still Stand No93
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
Dark Elegance, Biomorphic Black Solid Wood Crafted by NONO, Still Stand No93 —— Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and ...
Hardwood
$14,320Sale Price / item|20% Off
The Sleek Totem of Dark Elegance in Black Solid Wood, Still Stand No90
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
The Sleek Totem of Dark Elegance in Black Solid Wood, Still Stand No90 —— Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and serene grace. Each one is a testam...
Hardwood
$14,320Sale Price / item|20% Off
Elegant and Dark, the Biomorphic Burned Oak Sculpture Still Stand 88
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
Elegant and Dark, the Biomorphic Burned Oak Sculpture by Joel Escalona, Still Stand No88 —— Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and serene grace. ...
Hardwood
Sleek Abstract Sculpture in Burned Oak, Still Stand No82 by NONO
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
Sleek Abstract Sculpture in Burned Oak, Still Stand No82 by NONO —— Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and serene grace. Each one is a testament t...
Hardwood
$14,320Sale Price / item|20% Off
Biomorphic Burned Oak Elegance, Still Stand No83, Crafted by NONO
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
Biomorphic Burned Oak Elegance, Still Stand No83, Crafted by NONO —— Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and serene grace. ...
Hardwood
$14,320Sale Price / item|20% Off
In Burned Oak, a Dark Biomorphic Sculpture of Elegance Emerges, Still Stand No97
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
In Burned Oak, a Dark Biomorphic Sculpture of Elegance Emerges, Still Stand No97 _ Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and serene grace. Each one is ...
Hardwood
Circa 1970s Brutalist Torch Cut Flower Display on Quartz Rock
By John Steck
Located in Charleston, SC
This excellent brutalist sculpture has 4 verdigris color flowers and torch cut bronze leaves that all sit on a solid piece of quartz. Circa 1970’s. Styled after John Steck, not sig...
Rock Crystal, Bronze
Unique Wall Art/Wall Object from the 1970s in Brutalist Style
By Henrik Horst
Located in Copenhagen, DK
Brutalist wall sculpture designed and manufactured by the Danish artist Henrik Horst, circa 1970s as a wave in danish mid-century modern design. Patinated metal construction mounted on a frame of wood. unique wall art...
Metal
Zinc agave plant sculpture on pedestal stand by Domani modern Sutherland
Located in Bridgehampton, NY
Produced by Domani Design/ Belgium ZInc agave plant in urn atop rectangular pedestal approx 23 x 23 inches diameter x 76 inches high
Zinc
A brutalist relief, ”Chalice and Fruits" stoneware by Gunvor Olin, Arabia
By Gunvor Olin-Grönqvist, Arabia
Located in Stockholm, SE
A brutalist still life relief, ”Chalice and Fruits," signed by Gunvor Olin-Grönqvist, was crafted during the 1960s in stoneware. The wall panel boasts an impressive size of 19 x 53.5...
Enamel
Mixed Metal Curtis Jere Elongated 'Urchin' Wall Sculpture
By Curtis Jeré
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This uncommon Jere sculpture is comprised of chromed steel 'spores' that together form an urchin or pom-pom figure at the top. A combination of brass and chromed steel rods with stee...
Brass, Chrome, Metal, Steel
$14,320Sale Price / item|20% Off
Sleek and Dark, Joel Escalona's Burned Oak Totem Emerges, Still Stand No92
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
Sleek and Dark, Joel Escalona's Burned Oak Totem Emerges, Still Stand No92 —— Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and serene grace. Each one is a t...
Hardwood
$14,320Sale Price / item|20% Off
A Dark, Elegant Design Materializes in Burned Oak, Still Stand No91, by NONO
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
A Dark, Elegant Design Materializes in Burned Oak, Still Stand No91, by NONO —— Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and serene grace. Each one is a...
Hardwood
Modern Elegance Unveiled in Dark Burned Oak, NONO's Still Stand No89
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
Modern Elegance Unveiled in Dark Burned Oak, NONO's Still Stand No89 —— Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and serene grace. Each one is a testam...
Hardwood
$14,320Sale Price / item|20% Off
Still Stand No86 Reveals Dark Elegance in a Carved Burned Oak Totem
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
Still Stand No86 Reveals Dark Elegance in a Carved Burned Oak Totem —— Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and serene grace. Each one is a testame...
Hardwood
$14,320Sale Price / item|20% Off
Dark, Modern Totem in Burned Oak, Escalona's Vision, Still Stand No81
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
Dark, Modern Totem in Burned Oak, Escalona's Vision, Still Stand No81 —— Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and serene grace. Each one is a testa...
Hardwood
Sleek Black Solid Wood Sculpture, NONO's Art, Still Stand No82
Located in Ciudad de México, CDMX
Sleek Black Solid Wood Sculpture, NONO's Art, Still Stand No82 Joel Escalona's wooden standing sculptures are objects of raw beauty and serene ...
Hardwood