Modern Textiles
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Thai Modern Textiles
Linen
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Textiles
Wool, Nylon, Polyester
2010s American Modern Textiles
Cotton
2010s American Modern Textiles
Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Textiles
Cotton, Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Textiles
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Textiles
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Textiles
Silk
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Textiles
Silk
2010s Indian Modern Textiles
Other
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Textiles
Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Textiles
Linen
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Textiles
Cotton
2010s North American Modern Textiles
Silk
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Textiles
Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Textiles
Cotton
2010s American Modern Textiles
Silk
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Textiles
Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Textiles
Cotton
2010s American Modern Textiles
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Textiles
Linen
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Textiles
Feathers
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Textiles
Cotton, Linen
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Textiles
Polyester
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Textiles
Textile, Feathers, Velvet
2010s American Modern Textiles
Fur, Down, Feathers
Mid-20th Century American Modern Textiles
Linen
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Textiles
Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Textiles
Cotton
2010s American Modern Textiles
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Textiles
Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Textiles
Silk
2010s Portuguese Modern Textiles
Wool
2010s American Modern Textiles
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Textiles
Linen
2010s Italian Modern Textiles
Cotton, Silk
2010s Turkish Modern Textiles
Cotton, Silk, Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Textiles
Fur, Silk
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Textiles
Alpaca
Early 2000s Moroccan Modern Textiles
Cotton, Silk
20th Century Modern Textiles
Cotton, Foam, Wool