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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Italian Modern Furniture
Quartz
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Brass
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture
Murano Glass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Glass
20th Century Italian Modern Furniture
Terracotta
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Furniture
Metal
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture
Fabric, Sapele Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Plexiglass, Scagliola
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Scagliola, Harewood
2010s Spanish Modern Furniture
Travertine, Marble, Carrara Marble, Slate
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Fabric, Wool, Cotton
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture
Plastic
1960s American Vintage Modern Furniture
Bamboo, Paper
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Fiberglass
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Furniture
Marble
1970s Vintage Modern Furniture
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Scagliola, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Art Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Furniture
Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Furniture
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Furniture
Scagliola
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Furniture
Concrete
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Marble
20th Century Italian Modern Furniture
Cut Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Brass
1990s German Modern Furniture
Velvet
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Blown Glass
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Lacquer, Oak
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture
Iron
1960s German Vintage Modern Furniture
Composition, Steel
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Blown Glass
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Upholstery
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Crystal, Brass
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Cut Glass
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Glass
20th Century Italian Modern Furniture
Cut Glass
20th Century Italian Modern Furniture
Glass
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Plexiglass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Velvet
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Crystal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Oak
20th Century Italian Modern Furniture
Glass
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Furniture
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Wood
1990s Italian Modern Furniture
Velvet