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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Metal
1980s Unknown Vintage Modern Bookcases
Steel
1980s Vintage Modern Bookcases
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Marble, Steel
1980s American Vintage Modern Bookcases
Glass, Mirror, Ash, Ebony, Burl
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Brass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Wood
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Brass, Iron
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Brass
Mid-20th Century Modern Bookcases
Aluminum
1980s European Vintage Modern Bookcases
Glass, Wood
20th Century Italian Modern Bookcases
Stainless Steel
20th Century Danish Modern Bookcases
Teak
1980s Danish Vintage Modern Bookcases
Teak
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Bookcases
Brass
1970s American Vintage Modern Bookcases
Rattan, Glass
1980s Belgian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Wood
1970s Vintage Modern Bookcases
Brass
1960s Scandinavian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Metal
1980s European Vintage Modern Bookcases
Stainless Steel
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Brass
1980s American Vintage Modern Bookcases
Glass, Wood, Maple
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Laminate
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Laminate, Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
1980s American Vintage Modern Bookcases
Glass, Lucite
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Bookcases
Glass