Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Belgian Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Brass, Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Brass, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Brass, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Ebony
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Leather, Wood
2010s Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Shell, Terrazzo
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Ebony
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Ebony
2010s Italian Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Macedonian Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Walnut
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Brass
Early 2000s Swiss Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Velvet, Resin
2010s German Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Brass
Early 1900s French Antique Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Crystal, Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Brass
1920s British Vintage Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Brass
1990s French Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Leather
Mid-20th Century Austrian Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Brass
2010s American Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Mirror, Walnut
2010s Italian Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Aluminum
Late 20th Century German Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Metal
1970s American Vintage Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
Bronze, Copper, Pewter