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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Portuguese Modern Furniture
Ceramic, Paint
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
21st Century and Contemporary Japanese Modern Furniture
Beech
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Furniture
Ceramic, Paint
1970s Australian Vintage Modern Furniture
Silver
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Furniture
Acrylic, Polyester
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Furniture
Leather, Oak
Late 20th Century American Modern Furniture
Marble
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Furniture
Bronze
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Furniture
Fur, Wool
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
2010s British Modern Furniture
Steel
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
2010s Nepalese Modern Furniture
Natural Fiber
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Walnut
Mid-20th Century British Modern Furniture
Oak
1950s French Vintage Modern Furniture
Paper
2010s British Modern Furniture
Brass
2010s English Modern Furniture
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Furniture
Brass
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture
Aluminum
2010s French Modern Furniture
Wool, Oak
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Furniture
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Furniture
Ceramic, Paint
1960s French Vintage Modern Furniture
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Furniture
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Furniture
Ceramic, Paint
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture
Steel
2010s British Modern Furniture
Carbon Fiber, Acrylic, Sycamore, Oak
Mid-20th Century French Modern Furniture
Straw, Pine
1980s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Marble, Brass
2010s English Modern Furniture
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Rush
1990s Italian Modern Furniture
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Furniture
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Furniture
Ceramic, Paint
Late 20th Century English Modern Furniture
Chrome
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture
Art Glass