Modern Paintings
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Metal
Late 20th Century Modern Paintings
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood
2010s British Modern Paintings
Wood, Paper
Early 20th Century French Modern Paintings
Paper
1950s French Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
1980s Scottish Vintage Modern Paintings
1960s Vintage Modern Paintings
Paper
2010s English Modern Paintings
Paper
2010s English Modern Paintings
Paper
2010s English Modern Paintings
Paper
20th Century Dutch Modern Paintings
Glass, Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Australian Modern Paintings
Canvas
1970s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
1960s French Vintage Modern Paintings
Paper
1960s French Vintage Modern Paintings
Paper
1960s French Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint
2010s Canadian Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Paint
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
1940s Belgian Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint
Early 2000s Australian Modern Paintings
Linen, Acrylic, Wood
2010s Angolan Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Angolan Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Angolan Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Angolan Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Angolan Modern Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Angolan Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1970s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
20th Century Modern Paintings
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
1990s British Modern Paintings
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Paintings
Wire
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Paintings
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Paintings
Paper
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Linen, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1930s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Hardwood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Australian Modern Paintings
Linen, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Paintings
Paper
1990s Australian Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
1970s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Brass
Early 2000s Australian Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Linen, Wood
Early 2000s Australian Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1990s American Modern Paintings
Paper
2010s French Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Paintings
Paper
1960s Hungarian Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
20th Century American Modern Paintings
Paint
20th Century American Modern Paintings
Wood
20th Century American Modern Paintings
Paint
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Paintings
Metal
Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings
Other
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Paintings
Paper
1990s American Modern Paintings
Hardwood
1970s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint