Modern Floor Lamps
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
2010s Belgian Modern Floor Lamps
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Floor Lamps
Steel
1960s Austrian Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Crystal, Brass
1980s German Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
2010s French Modern Floor Lamps
Plaster
2010s American Modern Floor Lamps
Metal, Brass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
2010s British Modern Floor Lamps
Brass, Steel
2010s French Modern Floor Lamps
Copper
2010s French Modern Floor Lamps
Foam
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Cement, Metal
1960s American Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Slate, Chrome
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Alabaster, Brass
2010s Brazilian Modern Floor Lamps
Paper
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass, Murrine
2010s Brazilian Modern Floor Lamps
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Floor Lamps
Aluminum
2010s Turkish Modern Floor Lamps
Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Brass
1990s Modern Floor Lamps
Marble, Steel
2010s French Modern Floor Lamps
Composition
2010s Belgian Modern Floor Lamps
Stainless Steel
1980s American Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Bronze
1980s American Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Nickel
2010s Indian Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
Late 20th Century Modern Floor Lamps
Marble, Steel
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass, Murrine
2010s French Modern Floor Lamps
Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Onyx, Bronze
2010s Austrian Modern Floor Lamps
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Aluminum
2010s Belgian Modern Floor Lamps
Steel
Early 2000s American Modern Floor Lamps
Brass
2010s French Modern Floor Lamps
Composition
2010s German Modern Floor Lamps
Wood
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Onyx, Bronze
Late 20th Century American Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Onyx, Bronze
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Aluminum
2010s French Modern Floor Lamps
Composition
1990s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Metal, Iron
2010s French Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Carrara Marble
Mid-20th Century North American Modern Floor Lamps
Rattan
20th Century Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Floor Lamps
Brass
2010s Indian Modern Floor Lamps
Brass
2010s Spanish Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
2010s French Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Floor Lamps
Gold Leaf
2010s French Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
2010s Mexican Modern Floor Lamps
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Metal, Aluminum