Modern Lighting
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 French Modern Lighting
Ceramic
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Lighting
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Lighting
Alabaster, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Bolivian Modern Lighting
Rosewood, Hardwood
2010s Scandinavian Modern Lighting
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Lighting
Silk, Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Lighting
Aluminum
2010s American Modern Lighting
Metal, Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lighting
Porcelain
2010s American Modern Lighting
Aluminum, Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lighting
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Lighting
Nickel
2010s American Modern Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lighting
Crystal
2010s Italian Modern Lighting
Brass
2010s Scandinavian Modern Lighting
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Lighting
Brass, Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lighting
Nickel
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Lighting
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lighting
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lighting
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Lighting
Crystal, Bronze
2010s Scandinavian Modern Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Lighting
Slate, Gold Leaf
2010s French Modern Lighting
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Lighting
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lighting
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Lighting
Alabaster, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lighting
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Lighting
Metal
2010s French Modern Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Lighting
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lighting
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Lighting
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Lighting
Brass
2010s North American Modern Lighting
Ceramic
2010s Danish Modern Lighting
Concrete, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lighting
Bronze
2010s Italian Modern Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lighting
Blown Glass
2010s American Modern Lighting
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lighting
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass, Cut Glass, Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lighting
Brass
2010s Brazilian Modern Lighting
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Lighting
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Lighting
Slate, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Lighting
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lighting
Art Glass
2010s French Modern Lighting
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lighting
Nickel
Modern lighting for sale on 1stDibs.
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