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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 South African Modern Cabinets
Ceramic, Leather, Glass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Laminate, Cherry
2010s Danish Modern Cabinets
Metal
2010s Portuguese Modern Cabinets
Brass
1940s American Vintage Modern Cabinets
Metal
2010s Danish Modern Cabinets
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Modern Cabinets
Wood
2010s Italian Modern Cabinets
Marble, Brass
2010s Spanish Modern Cabinets
Glass, Wood, Walnut
2010s Egyptian Modern Cabinets
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Cabinets
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Resin, Wood
2010s American Modern Cabinets
Walnut
2010s British Modern Cabinets
Rosewood, Sycamore
2010s French Modern Cabinets
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Modern Cabinets
Composition
2010s Spanish Modern Cabinets
Aluminum, Iron
2010s British Modern Cabinets
Metal, Brass, Metallic Thread
2010s French Modern Cabinets
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Mirror, Lacquer, Glass
2010s French Modern Cabinets
Wood
2010s Portuguese Modern Cabinets
Wood, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Wood, Fir
2010s Spanish Modern Cabinets
Glass, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Metal
2010s French Modern Cabinets
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Walnut
2010s Croatian Modern Cabinets
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Cabinets
Steel
2010s Spanish Modern Cabinets
Glass, Wood, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Gold Leaf
2010s Italian Modern Cabinets
Wood
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Cabinets
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Modern Cabinets
Composition
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Wood
2010s Spanish Modern Cabinets
Aluminum, Iron
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Cabinets
Steel
2010s Danish Modern Cabinets
Metal
2010s American Modern Cabinets
Metal
2010s Dutch Modern Cabinets
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Chilean Modern Cabinets
Wood, Paint
2010s American Modern Cabinets
Brass, Other
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Porcelain, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Metal
2010s Polish Modern Cabinets
Metal, Brass
2010s Swedish Modern Cabinets
Other
2010s Italian Modern Cabinets
Aluminum
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Cabinets
Oak
2010s Danish Modern Cabinets
Metal
2010s Danish Modern Cabinets
Metal
2010s Polish Modern Cabinets
Metal, Brass
2010s French Modern Cabinets
Wood
2010s Mexican Modern Cabinets
Wood, Birch, Plywood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Wood
2010s French Modern Cabinets
Walnut, Lacquer
2010s Philippine Modern Cabinets
Rattan, Maple
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Steel, Copper