Modern Desks
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Desks
Onyx, Quartz, Travertine, Marble, Carrara Marble, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Desks
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks
Marble, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Modern Desks
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Modern Desks
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Desks
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Modern Desks
Wood
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Desks
Brass
1970s American Vintage Modern Desks
Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks
Stainless Steel, Steel, Metal, Brass
2010s Italian Modern Desks
Leather, Bentwood
2010s American Modern Desks
Brass
1990s American Modern Desks
Nickel
2010s Indian Modern Desks
Metal
Late 20th Century American Modern Desks
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Slovenian Modern Desks
Wood
1960s American Vintage Modern Desks
Steel, Chrome
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Desks
Brass
Late 20th Century American Modern Desks
Mahogany
Late 20th Century American Modern Desks
Chrome
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Desks
Metal
Early 2000s German Modern Desks
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks
Onyx, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Desks
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks
Onyx, Quartz, Travertine, Marble, Carrara Marble
2010s Danish Modern Desks
Stainless Steel
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Desks
Walnut
2010s American Modern Desks
Maple, Plywood
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Desks
Ash, Maple, Oak, Walnut
2010s Italian Modern Desks
Leather, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Slovak Modern Desks
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Desks
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Desks
Maple, Teak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks
Onyx, Brass
2010s American Modern Desks
Metal
2010s Portuguese Modern Desks
Marble, Metal
1970s Vintage Modern Desks
Composition
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks
Metal, Brass, Steel, Stainless Steel
2010s American Modern Desks
Metal
20th Century French Modern Desks
Metal
Mid-20th Century French Modern Desks
Bronze
1970s French Vintage Modern Desks
Chrome
2010s Italian Modern Desks
Wood
1960s American Vintage Modern Desks
Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks
Stainless Steel, Steel, Metal, Brass
2010s Portuguese Modern Desks
Marble, Metal
2010s German Modern Desks
Metal
2010s American Modern Desks
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Desks
Maple
1970s American Vintage Modern Desks
Bronze
2010s Brazilian Modern Desks
Metal
1990s American Modern Desks
Hardwood, Cherry
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Desks
Metal
1980s French Vintage Modern Desks
Beech
2010s Danish Modern Desks
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Desks
Oak
1960s French Vintage Modern Desks
Glass, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks
Onyx, Marble, Quartz, Travertine, Carrara Marble







