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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
20th Century French Modern Floor Lamps
Brass
Late 20th Century American Modern Floor Lamps
Plaster
Late 20th Century American Modern Floor Lamps
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary North American Modern Floor Lamps
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Floor Lamps
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Floor Lamps
Stainless Steel
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Aluminum
2010s Austrian Modern Floor Lamps
Brass
Late 20th Century European Modern Floor Lamps
Acrylic
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Floor Lamps
Steel
2010s Spanish Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Marble, Brass
1960s American Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Steel
1990s French Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Floor Lamps
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Floor Lamps
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Floor Lamps
Aluminum
1960s North American Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Floor Lamps
Marble, Enamel, Brass
1990s French Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Alabaster, Travertine
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Brass
1970s American Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Alabaster, Marble
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Alabaster, Marble
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Alabaster, Marble
1950s Danish Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Steel
Early 2000s French Modern Floor Lamps
Crystal, Steel
Late 20th Century Dutch Modern Floor Lamps
Bronze
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Murano Glass
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Murano Glass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Marble
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Stone, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Floor Lamps
Limestone, Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Floor Lamps
Metal, Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Floor Lamps
Acrylic, Polyester
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Marble
Mid-20th Century Modern Floor Lamps
Marble, Brass
2010s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Marble