Modern Corner Cupboards
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Italian Modern Corner Cupboards
Brass
2010s Brazilian Modern Corner Cupboards
Lacquer
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Corner Cupboards
Marble, Iron
Late 20th Century Chinese Modern Corner Cupboards
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Corner Cupboards
Silver Leaf
2010s Italian Modern Corner Cupboards
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Corner Cupboards
Wood
2010s Italian Modern Corner Cupboards
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Corner Cupboards
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Corner Cupboards
Metal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Corner Cupboards
Sycamore
2010s Italian Modern Corner Cupboards
Glass, Wood
2010s French Modern Corner Cupboards
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Corner Cupboards
Brass, Stainless Steel
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Corner Cupboards
Mirror, Maple, Parchment Paper
19th Century French Antique Modern Corner Cupboards
Iron
Late 18th Century English Antique Modern Corner Cupboards
Mahogany
1940s French Vintage Modern Corner Cupboards
Brass
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Corner Cupboards
Brass
1960s Dutch Vintage Modern Corner Cupboards
Teak
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Corner Cupboards
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Corner Cupboards
Wood
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Corner Cupboards
Brass
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Corner Cupboards
Oak
2010s Italian Modern Corner Cupboards
Wood
1890s Chinese Antique Modern Corner Cupboards
Bamboo, Lacquer
1940s Finnish Vintage Modern Corner Cupboards
Iron
20th Century English Modern Corner Cupboards
Glass, Yew
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Corner Cupboards
Wood