Modern Furniture

MODERN STYLE

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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.

Style: Modern

Creator: Karl Springer

Karl Springer Rare Pair of "Venetian Glass Table Top Torcheres" 1980s

By Karl Springer, Seguso Vetri d'Arte

Located in New York, NY

Rare pair of large illuminating hand-blown “Venetian Glass Table Top Torcheres” with scavo finish and uplights inside by Seguso Vetri d'Arte (Murano) for Karl Springer, American 1980...

Category

1980s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture

Materials

Metal

Karl Springer Rare Pair of "Venetian Glass Table Top Torcheres" 1980s

Signed Karl Springer Lizard Leather JMF Chair, 1984

Modern Furniture

1980s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Rare Pair of "Venetian Glass Table Top Torcheres" 1980s

20th Century American Modern Furniture

Signed Karl Springer Lizard Leather JMF Chair, 1984

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Unique Hinged Box in Polished Sodalite Stone 1980s 'Signed'

1980s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Rare Pair of "Venetian Glass Table Top Torcheres" 1980s

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Stunning Table Lamp in Chinese Red Lacquer and Gold Leaf 1980s

1980s Philippine Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Pair of Large Tessellated Penshell End Tables 1980s (Signed)

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Pair of Hand-Blown Black Glass Candle Holders 1980s (Signed)

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Meticulously Crafted Coffee Table with Lucite Legs 1980s 'Signed'

1980s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Artisan Hand-Blown Glass Vase with Antiqued Gold Leaf 1980s

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Pair of "Mandarin Table Lamps" in Deep Blue Glaze, 1980s

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Classic Waterfall Coffee Table in Lacquered Goatskin, 1980s

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Rare Pair of "Onyx Tables" with Beveled Bronze Glass, 1980s

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Exceptional Game Table in Embossed Lizard 1986 'Signed and Dated'

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Impressive Chest of Drawers in Lacquered Goatskin, circa 1980s

1970s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Roberto Estevez Incredible Large Unicorn Sculpture 1979 'Signed and Numbered'

1970s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer "Ming Coffee Table" in Canary Python, 1970s

1980s Philippine Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Exceptional 2 Tier Tessellated Penshell Table 1980s 'Signed'

1980s Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Extra Large Vanity Mirror

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Set of 4 Candleholders in Gunmetal and Brass, 1980s

1990s American Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Rare Pair of Cantilevered "Mushroom Tables" 1990 Signed and Dated

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Chic Side Table in Embossed Crocodile Leather, 1980s

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer "J.M.F. Floor Lamp" in Tessellated Fossilized Coral 1980s

Late 20th Century Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Modern Chrome & Brass Etagere

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Stunning "Kyoto Box" in Tessellated Penshell 1980s 'Signed'

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Pair of Karl Springer "Dowelwood Ottomans", 1980s

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Reptile Embossed Leather Cocktail Table, Signed and Dated 1983

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Octagonal Mirror with Superb Artisan Marble Lacquer, 1980s

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Pair of Exceptional Chrome and Brass Swing-Arm Floor Lamps 1980s

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Exceptional Lidded Box in Tessellated Travertine 1980s 'Signed'

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Pair of Leather and Brass Floor Lamps by Karl Springer

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Large Artisan Hand Etched Glass Vase 1980s

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer "Sculpture Leg" Table in Coral, Brass and Glass, USA, 1980s

1980s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Large Hand Blown White Scavo Glass Vase, 1980s

Early 2000s American Modern Furniture

Karl Springer 2-Tier Side Table in Lacquered Linen 2002 'Signed'

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Large Vanity Mirror in Brass and Chrome, USA, 1980s

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Set of Stunning Polished Petrified Wood Orbs on Custom Bases 1980s

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Snake Skin Table by Karl Springer

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Clear Lucite and Chrome Table Lamp by Karl Springer

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture

Karl Springer Rare "Goatskin Free Form Desk" 1988

1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture