Modern Furniture
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1920s French Vintage Modern Furniture
Brass
1980s French Vintage Modern Furniture
Leather
1960s French Vintage Modern Furniture
Leather
20th Century French Modern Furniture
Leather
20th Century French Modern Furniture
Wrought Iron
20th Century French Modern Furniture
Brass
1980s French Vintage Modern Furniture
Leather
20th Century French Modern Furniture
Paper
1990s French Modern Furniture
Brass
20th Century French Modern Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Furniture
Metal, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Furniture
Brass
20th Century French Modern Furniture
Wrought Iron
1970s French Vintage Modern Furniture
Canvas
20th Century French Modern Furniture
Bronze
2010s French Modern Furniture
Leather
20th Century French Modern Furniture
Brass
1950s Spanish Vintage Modern Furniture
Iron
20th Century French Modern Furniture
Brass
20th Century Spanish Modern Furniture
Iron, Wrought Iron
20th Century French Modern Furniture
Leather
1840s Italian Antique Modern Furniture
Wrought Iron
Early 20th Century Modern Furniture
1970s French Vintage Modern Furniture
Canvas
1950s Spanish Vintage Modern Furniture
Metal
20th Century Spanish Modern Furniture
Iron, Wrought Iron
1990s French Modern Furniture
Leather, Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Furniture
Brass
2010s Modern Furniture
Leather, Canvas
2010s Modern Furniture
Leather, Canvas
Early 2000s French Modern Furniture
Canvas
1990s French Modern Furniture
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Furniture
Crystal
Late 20th Century French Modern Furniture
Crystal
1980s French Vintage Modern Furniture
Leather
Late 20th Century Modern Furniture
Canvas
Late 20th Century Modern Furniture
Leather, Canvas
Late 20th Century French Modern Furniture
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Furniture
Canvas
Modern furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
Modern Interiors
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