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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Ceramic
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Crystal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Plastic
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Crystal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century Scandinavian Modern Furniture
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Modern Furniture
Silver Leaf
Early 2000s Italian Modern Furniture
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Metal
20th Century North American Modern Furniture
Canvas, Paint
1960s Turkish Vintage Modern Furniture
Wool, Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Furniture
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Glass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture
Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Mohair
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture
Metal
1960s Swedish Vintage Modern Furniture
Blown Glass
1980s French Vintage Modern Furniture
Paper
2010s Indian Modern Furniture
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Modern Furniture
Wool
2010s Turkish Modern Furniture
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Foam, Beech, Plywood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Glass
2010s French Modern Furniture
Opaline Glass, Resin
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Acrylic
2010s Dutch Modern Furniture
Metal
1660s Turkish Antique Modern Furniture
Wool, Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Fabric
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Furniture
Foam
1960s Turkish Vintage Modern Furniture
Cotton, Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Furniture
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Wool
20th Century French Modern Furniture
Silk
1960s Turkish Vintage Modern Furniture
Cotton, Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Fabric
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Moroccan Modern Furniture
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Glass
Late 20th Century Indian Modern Furniture
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Furniture
Concrete
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Furniture
Copper
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Glass
2010s Indian Modern Furniture
Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Furniture
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Furniture
Wool, Silk
21st Century and Contemporary Belgian Modern Furniture
Linen