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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Metal
Early 2000s American Modern Furniture
Paper
Early 2000s American Modern Furniture
Aluminum, Steel
Early 2000s Italian Modern Furniture
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Zebra Hide
Early 2000s American Modern Furniture
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Furniture
Iron
Early 2000s Danish Modern Furniture
Cherry
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Furniture
Velvet, Walnut
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Wood
Early 2000s Italian Modern Furniture
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Furniture
Fabric
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Metal
2010s American Modern Furniture
Wood
Early 2000s French Modern Furniture
Paper
Early 2000s Italian Modern Furniture
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass, Cut Glass, Murano Glass
Early 2000s American Modern Furniture
Wood, Linen
Early 2000s American Modern Furniture
Wood, Plywood
Early 2000s Canadian Modern Furniture
Metal, Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Furniture
Composition
2010s American Modern Furniture
Ultrasuede
Early 2000s American Modern Furniture
Aluminum
2010s American Modern Furniture
Concrete, Cement
Early 2000s American Modern Furniture
Upholstery, Wood, Velvet
2010s American Modern Furniture
Brass, Bronze, Steel, Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Furniture
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Finnish Modern Furniture
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Furniture
Leather, Cherry
2010s French Modern Furniture
Metal
2010s Unknown Modern Furniture
Metal
Early 2000s American Modern Furniture
Fabric, Wood
2010s American Modern Furniture
Oak, Paper
Early 2000s American Modern Furniture
Mahogany, Upholstery
Early 2000s Italian Modern Furniture
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Furniture
Lucite
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Leather, Walnut
Early 2000s Italian Modern Furniture
Metal, Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Granite
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Ceramic, Clay
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Brass
2010s Swiss Modern Furniture
Enamel, Aluminum
2010s German Modern Furniture
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Furniture
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Glass
Early 2000s American Modern Furniture
Bronze, Enamel
2010s American Modern Furniture
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Furniture
Porcelain
2010s Modern Furniture
Metal, Chrome
Early 2000s Czech Modern Furniture
Bentwood
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Furniture
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Leather
Early 2000s American Modern Furniture
Chrome