Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe mid-century modern American furniture. The style, which emerged primarily in the years following World War II, is characterized by pieces that were conceived and made in an energetic, optimistic spirit by creators who believed that good design was an essential part of good living.
Postwar American architects and designers were animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist “International Style” architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the ’30s by Philip Johnson and others. New building techniques, such as “post-and-beam” construction, allowed the International-style schemes to be realized on a small scale, in open-plan houses with long walls of glass.
Materials developed for wartime use became available for domestic goods and were incorporated into mid-century modern furniture designs. Charles and Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen, who had experimented extensively with molded plywood, eagerly embraced fiberglass for, respectively, pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair. George Nelson and his design team created Bubble lamp shades using a new translucent polymer skin. Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were re-purposed: the Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs that used surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests.
As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century designers caught the spirit.
Classically-oriented creators such as Edward Wormley, house designer for Dunbar Inc., offered such pieces as the sinuous Listen to Me chaise; the British expatriate T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings switched gears, creating items such as the tiered, biomorphic Mesa table. There were Young Turks such as Paul McCobb — who designed holistic groups of sleek, blonde-wood furniture — and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.
As the collection of vintage mid-century modern American furniture on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
1930s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint, Plywood
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paper
1970s Swedish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
1970s Mexican Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Paint
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paper
1960s Danish Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Canvas
1940s German Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Other
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Canvas
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Paint
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paper
1980s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Lead
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
Early 2000s American Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Wood, Canvas
1980s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paper
1980s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Paint
1980s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paper
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
Mid-20th Century Canadian Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Burlap, Paint
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paper
1970s Italian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Wood
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
1990s French Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paper
Early 2000s French Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
Early 2000s French Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paper
1950s European Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paper
1990s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Canvas, Oak
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint, Canvas
1990s Spanish Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paper
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Canvas
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Plexiglass
1970s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1940s Algerian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
Mid-20th Century Belgian Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Canvas
1880s American Antique Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
Late 20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
1960s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Plywood, Paint
1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paper
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Canvas
1990s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paper
1970s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
1980s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
1970s Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
1970s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
1990s French Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
1960s French Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paper
1980s Belgian Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paint
1950s American Vintage Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Paper