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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1990s American Modern Furniture
Upholstery
1970s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Chrome
Mid-20th Century North American Modern Furniture
Chrome
1990s American Modern Furniture
Chrome
1960s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Chrome
1970s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Chrome
2010s American Modern Furniture
Wood, Fabric
1970s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Chrome, Steel
1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Metal
Late 20th Century American Modern Furniture
Bouclé
1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Stainless Steel, Chrome
1970s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Steel, Brass
1950s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Iron
1970s Vintage Modern Furniture
Chrome
Mid-20th Century North American Modern Furniture
Wood, Fabric
Late 20th Century American Modern Furniture
Chrome
20th Century North American Modern Furniture
Walnut
Late 20th Century American Modern Furniture
Upholstery, Laminate
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Chrome
1970s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Rosewood, Mirror
1970s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Steel, Brass
1970s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Chrome
20th Century Modern Furniture
Olive
Mid-20th Century American Modern Furniture
Wood
Late 20th Century American Modern Furniture
Wood, Paint
20th Century North American Modern Furniture
Walnut
1970s North American Vintage Modern Furniture
Chrome
1960s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Chrome
1950s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Iron
Late 20th Century American Modern Furniture
Metal, Brass
1970s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Palisander
1970s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Chrome
1960s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Walnut
1960s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Walnut, Alpaca
1970s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Chrome