Modern Bookcases
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Portuguese Modern Bookcases
Metal, Brass
2010s Danish Modern Bookcases
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Bookcases
Aluminum, Metal
2010s French Modern Bookcases
Other
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Modern Bookcases
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Bookcases
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Bookcases
Bronze, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Bookcases
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Modern Bookcases
Glass, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Bookcases
Metal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Bookcases
Marble, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Bookcases
Metal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Bookcases
Metal, Steel, Cut Steel, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Bookcases
Metal, Steel, Cut Steel, Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Bookcases
Other
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Bookcases
Metal, Steel, Stainless Steel, Cut Steel
2010s French Modern Bookcases
Walnut
2010s French Modern Bookcases
Other
2010s French Modern Bookcases
Steel
2010s Croatian Modern Bookcases
Ash
2010s Danish Modern Bookcases
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Bookcases
Fiberglass
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Modern Bookcases
Composition
2010s French Modern Bookcases
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Bookcases
Travertine
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Bookcases
Wood
2010s Danish Modern Bookcases
Metal
1990s Italian Modern Bookcases
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Bookcases
Stainless Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Brass, Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Bookcases
Other
2010s Italian Modern Bookcases
Metal
2010s French Modern Bookcases
Steel
2010s Danish Modern Bookcases
Metal
2010s French Modern Bookcases
Plastic, Oak
2010s Chinese Modern Bookcases
Steel
2010s Croatian Modern Bookcases
Ash
Mid-20th Century French Modern Bookcases
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Bookcases
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Bookcases
Stainless Steel
2010s French Modern Bookcases
Steel
2010s French Modern Bookcases
Metal
2010s South Korean Modern Bookcases
Stone, Steel
2010s English Modern Bookcases
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Bookcases
Brass
2010s French Modern Bookcases
Steel
2010s Canadian Modern Bookcases
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Bookcases
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Mauritian Modern Bookcases
Aluminum
2010s Danish Modern Bookcases
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Bookcases
Wood, Lacquer
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Bookcases
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Bookcases
Wood
2010s Danish Modern Bookcases
Metal
2010s French Modern Bookcases
Steel
2010s Danish Modern Bookcases
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Bookcases
Wood