Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Mother-of-Pearl
2010s British Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Gold
2010s American Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Steel
2010s French Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Crystal, Brass
2010s American Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Ceramic
2010s Canadian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Aluminum, Gold Plate
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal
20th Century Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Murano Glass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass, Iron
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass
2010s American Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Wrought Iron
2010s French Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal
1990s American Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal, Chrome
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Crystal, Iron
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal
20th Century German Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Chrome
2010s American Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Crystal, Nickel
2010s American Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass, Gold Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Aluminum
2010s American Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Gold Leaf
2010s American Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Carrara Marble, Brass
2010s British Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal
1950s French Vintage Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Bronze
2010s British Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal, Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal, Chrome
2010s English Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Glass
Late 20th Century Belgian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass, Copper
2010s American Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal
2010s French Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass
2010s British Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Nylon
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Blown Glass
Early 2000s French Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Crystal, Steel
2010s Spanish Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal
2010s French Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal
20th Century Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Aluminum
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass
1970s French Vintage Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
2010s Lebanese Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Nickel
2010s Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Cut Glass
2010s American Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass
2010s American Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Nickel