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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
2010s British Modern Furniture
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Lapis Lazuli, Marble
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Cotton
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Resin
1960s Turkish Vintage Modern Furniture
Wool, Cotton
20th Century Italian Modern Furniture
Murano Glass
20th Century Turkish Modern Furniture
Wool, Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Furniture
Concrete
Mid-20th Century Turkish Modern Furniture
Cotton, Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Plastic
2010s Dutch Modern Furniture
Wool
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Furniture
Glass
20th Century Modern Furniture
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Furniture
Aluminum, Brass
1990s American Modern Furniture
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Pakistani Modern Furniture
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Furniture
Wool, Silk
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Cotton
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture
Steel
Mid-20th Century French Modern Furniture
Stoneware
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Ceramic
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Travertine, Stainless Steel
2010s American Modern Furniture
Metal, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Foam
2010s Thai Modern Furniture
Wool, Bamboo
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Wood, Upholstery
2010s American Modern Furniture
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Resin
2010s Indonesian Modern Furniture
Wool
Late 20th Century American Modern Furniture
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Ceramic
1990s Swedish Modern Furniture
Art Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Fabric, Upholstery
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture
Murano Glass
1980s French Vintage Modern Furniture
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Metal, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Furniture
Concrete
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Furniture
Wool, Silk
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Furniture
Wool
2010s American Modern Furniture
Velvet
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Brass
Early 2000s Italian Modern Furniture
Ceramic
2010s French Modern Furniture
Lapis Lazuli
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Furniture
Wool
Early 2000s Swedish Modern Furniture
Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Furniture
Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Furniture
Acrylic, Paint