Modern Furniture
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Italian Modern Furniture
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Furniture
Suede, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Nepalese Modern Furniture
Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Nepalese Modern Furniture
Metallic Thread
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Resin
20th Century Turkish Modern Furniture
Wool, Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Blown Glass
20th Century Turkish Modern Furniture
Wool, Cotton
20th Century Turkish Modern Furniture
Wool, Cotton
2010s Modern Furniture
Cotton, Velvet
20th Century Turkish Modern Furniture
Wool, Cotton
2010s Dutch Modern Furniture
Plastic
20th Century Turkish Modern Furniture
Wool, Cotton
2010s German Modern Furniture
Paint, Canvas
2010s Mexican Modern Furniture
Wool
2010s Mexican Modern Furniture
Wool
2010s Mexican Modern Furniture
Wool
2010s Mexican Modern Furniture
Wool
2010s Mexican Modern Furniture
Wool
2010s Mexican Modern Furniture
Wool
2010s Mexican Modern Furniture
Wool
Mid-20th Century Modern Furniture
Canvas, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Linen
2010s Mexican Modern Furniture
Wool
2010s Mexican Modern Furniture
Wool
2010s Mexican Modern Furniture
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Cotton
2010s Swiss Modern Furniture
Ceramic
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Plastic
2010s Austrian Modern Furniture
Brass
1960s Turkish Vintage Modern Furniture
Cotton, Wool
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Furniture
Textile, Wool, Thread, Yarn
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Linen
2010s Mexican Modern Furniture
Resin
20th Century Turkish Modern Furniture
Wool, Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Furniture
Foam
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Furniture
Aluminum
2010s Turkish Modern Furniture
Fabric, Natural Fiber
2010s Argentine Modern Furniture
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Furniture
Carrara Marble
20th Century Turkish Modern Furniture
Wool, Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Furniture
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Nepalese Modern Furniture
Wool, Silk
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Linen
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Nepalese Modern Furniture
Wool, Silk
21st Century and Contemporary Nepalese Modern Furniture
Wool, Silk
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Resin