Modern Cabinets
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
2010s Turkish Modern Cabinets
Wood, Lacquer
2010s Canadian Modern Cabinets
Oak
2010s Portuguese Modern Cabinets
Brass
2010s Portuguese Modern Cabinets
Brass
2010s Portuguese Modern Cabinets
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Wood, Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Wood, Ceramic
2010s Egyptian Modern Cabinets
Pine
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Cabinets
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Cabinets
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Cabinets
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Cabinets
Leather, Wood, Oak
Mid-20th Century American Modern Cabinets
Brass
Late 19th Century Japanese Antique Modern Cabinets
Iron
Mid-20th Century Czech Modern Cabinets
Metal
2010s European Modern Cabinets
Metal
Late 19th Century Peruvian Antique Modern Cabinets
Mahogany
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Cabinets
Leather, Wood, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Oak, Lacquer
Mid-20th Century American Modern Cabinets
Cane, Walnut
1960s Vintage Modern Cabinets
Walnut
2010s Portuguese Modern Cabinets
Oak, Plywood
2010s Italian Modern Cabinets
Brass
Late 20th Century Modern Cabinets
Glass, Hardwood, Paint
1950s American Vintage Modern Cabinets
Metal
1960s American Vintage Modern Cabinets
Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Brass