Modern Dry Bars
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Czech Modern Dry Bars
Ceramic
1970s Belgian Vintage Modern Dry Bars
Oak
2010s American Modern Dry Bars
Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Dry Bars
Metal
2010s American Modern Dry Bars
Metal
2010s American Modern Dry Bars
Brass, Bronze, Steel
Early 2000s American Modern Dry Bars
Concrete, Aluminum, Stainless Steel
20th Century Modern Dry Bars
Acrylic, Lucite
1920s Dutch Vintage Modern Dry Bars
Belgian Black Marble
2010s Italian Modern Dry Bars
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dry Bars
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Dry Bars
Glass, Mirror, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dry Bars
Wood, Mirror
2010s Italian Modern Dry Bars
Metal
1930s Hungarian Vintage Modern Dry Bars
Rosewood, Walnut
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Dry Bars
Brass
2010s American Modern Dry Bars
Aluminum
1990s Italian Modern Dry Bars
Steel
Early 2000s American Modern Dry Bars
Concrete, Aluminum, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Dry Bars
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dry Bars
Wood
2010s Lebanese Modern Dry Bars
Travertine, Stainless Steel, Metal
2010s American Modern Dry Bars
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Dry Bars
Brass
1990s American Modern Dry Bars
Brass
2010s American Modern Dry Bars
Gold Leaf
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dry Bars
Glass, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Modern Dry Bars
Glass, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Dry Bars
Steel
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Dry Bars
Rattan
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Modern Dry Bars
Travertine
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Dry Bars
Brass
1980s French Vintage Modern Dry Bars
Plastic, Bentwood
2010s Chinese Modern Dry Bars
Glass, Ash
2010s Chinese Modern Dry Bars
Glass, Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Dry Bars
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Dry Bars
Lacquer
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dry Bars
Glass, Mirror, Lacquer
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dry Bars
Glass, Mirror, Lacquer
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Dry Bars
Quartz, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Modern Dry Bars
Iron
2010s Italian Modern Dry Bars
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Dry Bars
Brass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dry Bars
Plastic, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Dry Bars
Bronze
1940s Argentine Vintage Modern Dry Bars
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Lebanese Modern Dry Bars
Steel, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Lebanese Modern Dry Bars
Marble, Stainless Steel
2010s Mexican Modern Dry Bars
Iron
2010s American Modern Dry Bars
Wood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dry Bars
Steel
2010s Spanish Modern Dry Bars
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dry Bars
Steel
2010s American Modern Dry Bars
Marble, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dry Bars
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dry Bars
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dry Bars
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dry Bars
Walnut