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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 American Modern Furniture
Velvet
2010s Mexican Modern Furniture
Wool
2010s Spanish Modern Furniture
Wood
2010s American Modern Furniture
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass
2010s American Modern Furniture
Other, Bronze, Stainless Steel
1950s Spanish Vintage Modern Furniture
Plaster
20th Century Unknown Modern Furniture
Paint
Early 2000s French Modern Furniture
Paper
2010s American Modern Furniture
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass
20th Century North American Modern Furniture
Bronze
2010s Spanish Modern Furniture
Clay
Mid-20th Century French Modern Furniture
Brass, Iron
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s South Korean Modern Furniture
Oak
2010s South Korean Modern Furniture
Oak
2010s South Korean Modern Furniture
Oak
2010s South Korean Modern Furniture
Oak, Mirror
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Brass
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Copper
2010s German Modern Furniture
Steel
1950s Spanish Vintage Modern Furniture
Plaster
2010s German Modern Furniture
Steel
2010s American Modern Furniture
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Bronze
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Copper
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Mirror
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Brass
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Bronze
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Copper
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Brass
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Bronze
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s American Modern Furniture
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Chinese Modern Furniture
Brass, Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Copper
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Glass
2010s American Modern Furniture
Wood, Lacquer
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal