Modern Curtains and Valances
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Early 2000s Italian Modern Curtains and Valances
Silk, Velvet
Early 2000s Italian Modern Curtains and Valances
Cotton
Early 2000s Italian Modern Curtains and Valances
Cotton
Early 2000s Italian Modern Curtains and Valances
Cotton
2010s Dutch Modern Curtains and Valances
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Curtains and Valances
Silk, Paint
2010s Belgian Modern Curtains and Valances
Linen
2010s Dutch Modern Curtains and Valances
Cotton, Linen
2010s Dutch Modern Curtains and Valances
Paper, Cotton
2010s Dutch Modern Curtains and Valances
Alpaca, Cotton
2010s Dutch Modern Curtains and Valances
Cotton, Alpaca
2010s Dutch Modern Curtains and Valances
Cotton, Paper
2010s Dutch Modern Curtains and Valances
Silk, Paint
2010s Dutch Modern Curtains and Valances
Cotton, Paper
2010s Dutch Modern Curtains and Valances
Cotton, Linen
2010s Dutch Modern Curtains and Valances
Silk, Paint
2010s Dutch Modern Curtains and Valances
Cotton, Paper
2010s Dutch Modern Curtains and Valances
Cotton, Linen
2010s Italian Modern Curtains and Valances
Brass
Early 2000s Modern Curtains and Valances
Cotton, Linen
2010s Italian Modern Curtains and Valances
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Curtains and Valances
Brass
2010s North American Modern Curtains and Valances
Silk
Early 2000s American Modern Curtains and Valances
Cotton, Linen
Mid-20th Century British Modern Curtains and Valances
Cotton, Linen
2010s Italian Modern Curtains and Valances
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Curtains and Valances
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Curtains and Valances
Fabric, Cotton
2010s Italian Modern Curtains and Valances
Linen
Mid-20th Century French Modern Curtains and Valances
Silk
2010s European Modern Curtains and Valances
Linen
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Curtains and Valances
Silk, Velvet