Beaux Arts Furniture
Beaux Arts furniture included chairs replicating models from the Renaissance and sofas inspired by Louis XIV. These pieces filled high-ceilinged rooms that featured tapestries fit for a medieval castle and were illuminated by crystal chandeliers reminiscent of those in European palaces. Leon Marcotte Company created furnishings for the White House mimicking the style of Louis XVI, while in France, cabinetmaker Louis Majorelle reproduced 18th-century pieces that would influence his later Art Nouveau style.
Students at the École des Beaux-Arts in 19th-century Paris meticulously sketched Roman and Greek art and architecture as part of a curriculum that elevated the classical world. This reverence for history informed the architecture and design being constructed in the French capital and beyond, where columns and pediments were joined with elements referencing the Renaissance and Baroque eras, culminating in grand civic buildings such as the Palais Garnier opera house constructed under Napoleon III.
Beaux Arts style, also known as Classical Eclecticism for its flamboyant mixing of influences, made its way to the United States in the late 19th century through American architects who studied in Paris, like Richard Morris Hunt and Charles Follen McKim. They designed monumental turn-of-the-century buildings like train stations, libraries, museums and mansions that featured soaring entry halls and grand stairways with nearly every surface embellished, from mosaic floors to stained-glass ceilings. The luxurious interiors of these Beaux Arts buildings, which weren’t crowded with objects as in the Victorian era, matched this spirit of opulence and embraced the past.
Find a collection of Beaux Arts decorative objects, lighting, wall decorations and other furniture on 1stDibs.
1950s French Vintage Beaux Arts Furniture
Ceramic
1950s French Vintage Beaux Arts Furniture
Ceramic
1950s Vintage Beaux Arts Furniture
Marble
1950s English Vintage Beaux Arts Furniture
Aluminum
1950s Vintage Beaux Arts Furniture
Wood, Paper
1950s Italian Vintage Beaux Arts Furniture
Ceramic
Late 20th Century Chinese Beaux Arts Furniture
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Swedish Beaux Arts Furniture
Pottery, Ceramic
18th Century Italian Antique Beaux Arts Furniture
Marble, Concrete
1970s Italian Vintage Beaux Arts Furniture
Chrome, Metal
Late 19th Century Japanese Antique Beaux Arts Furniture
Porcelain
20th Century English Beaux Arts Furniture
Majolica, Ceramic
1940s Mexican Vintage Beaux Arts Furniture
Wood, Paper
Mid-20th Century Unknown Beaux Arts Furniture
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary French Beaux Arts Furniture
Limestone
Mid-20th Century French Beaux Arts Furniture
Glass, Giltwood, Paper
2010s American Beaux Arts Furniture
Stone
1930s British Vintage Beaux Arts Furniture
Paper
1950s French Vintage Beaux Arts Furniture
Paint
1950s American Vintage Beaux Arts Furniture
Brass
1950s American Vintage Beaux Arts Furniture
Concrete
1950s American Vintage Beaux Arts Furniture
Gesso, Wood
1950s French Vintage Beaux Arts Furniture
Paint
1950s French Vintage Beaux Arts Furniture
1950s French Vintage Beaux Arts Furniture
1950s English Vintage Beaux Arts Furniture
Gold Plate