Modern Bookends
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Late 20th Century Modern Bookends
Brass, Chrome
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Bookends
Blown Glass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Bookends
Brass
Late 20th Century American Modern Bookends
Glass
2010s American Modern Bookends
Blown Glass
Late 20th Century Modern Bookends
Brass, Chrome
20th Century Unknown Modern Bookends
Marble
1980s French Vintage Modern Bookends
Granite, Metal, Chrome
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Bookends
Brass
20th Century Modern Bookends
Carrara Marble
20th Century Modern Bookends
Chrome
20th Century Modern Bookends
Art Glass, Wood
1980s Unknown Vintage Modern Bookends
Stone
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Bookends
Crystal
Mid-20th Century American Modern Bookends
Metal
Late 20th Century Modern Bookends
Brass, Chrome
Mid-20th Century American Modern Bookends
Metal
Mid-20th Century Modern Bookends
Copper
20th Century American Modern Bookends
Brass
1950s American Vintage Modern Bookends
Ceramic
20th Century Swedish Modern Bookends
Brass
Early 20th Century American Modern Bookends
Onyx, Brass
1980s American Vintage Modern Bookends
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Bookends
Plastic, Acrylic, Lucite
2010s American Modern Bookends
Marble
1970s American Vintage Modern Bookends
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Modern Bookends
Bronze
20th Century Modern Bookends
Concrete
2010s American Modern Bookends
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Bookends
Lucite
1960s American Vintage Modern Bookends
Bronze
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Bookends
Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass
Early 20th Century American Modern Bookends
Resin
Mid-20th Century American Modern Bookends
Acrylic, Lucite
20th Century European Modern Bookends
Wrought Iron
Early 20th Century American Modern Bookends
Resin
Late 20th Century American Modern Bookends
Nickel
1960s American Vintage Modern Bookends
Stainless Steel