Modern 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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Sculptures
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sculptures
Metal
Mid-20th Century Ecuadorean Modern Sculptures
Silver Plate
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sculptures
Metal
1970s American Vintage Modern Sculptures
Ceramic, Lucite
20th Century European Modern Sculptures
Silver
20th Century Modern Sculptures
Silver
20th Century Italian Modern Sculptures
Malachite
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sculptures
Plastic
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Sculptures
Silver
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Sculptures
Silver
1980s American Vintage Modern Sculptures
Ceramic
2010s British Modern Sculptures
Sterling Silver
2010s British Modern Sculptures
Sterling Silver
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Sculptures
Silver
2010s Italian Modern Sculptures
Brass
1930s French Vintage Modern Sculptures
Silver Plate, Spelter
Late 20th Century American Modern Sculptures
Rock Crystal, Iron, Silver Leaf
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Sculptures
Silver Plate
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Sculptures
Metal
1990s English Modern Sculptures
Sterling Silver
2010s Dutch Modern Sculptures
Ceramic
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Sculptures
Enamel
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Sculptures
Silver Plate
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Sculptures
Ceramic
2010s Brazilian Modern Sculptures
Metal
2010s Modern Sculptures
Ceramic, Silk, Hemp, Raffia
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Sculptures
Ceramic, Stoneware, Terracotta
20th Century Spanish Modern Sculptures
Wood
Mid-20th Century Modern Sculptures
Ceramic
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Sculptures
Ceramic
Late 19th Century Austrian Antique Modern Sculptures
Copper, Metal, Bronze
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Sculptures
Silver Plate, Brass
20th Century Modern Sculptures
Silver
1990s English Modern Sculptures
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Sculptures
Metal, Silver
1990s English Modern Sculptures
Silver
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Sculptures
Silver
20th Century Italian Modern Sculptures
Sterling Silver
2010s European Modern Sculptures
Silver
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Sculptures
Chrome
20th Century American Modern Sculptures
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Sculptures
Silver Plate
1980s English Vintage Modern Sculptures
Sterling Silver
2010s British Modern Sculptures
Sterling Silver