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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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
Fur
2010s Turkish Modern Furniture
Wool
2010s Canadian Modern Furniture
Acrylic, Oak, Walnut, Fir
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Nylon
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Furniture
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Steel
2010s French Modern Furniture
Earthenware
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Furniture
Upholstery, Walnut
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Upholstery, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Polyester
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Alabaster, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Furniture
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Furniture
Iron
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Mirror, Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Furniture
Walnut, Bouclé, Wool
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Furniture
Oak, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Metal, Gold Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Moroccan Modern Furniture
Brass
2010s American Modern Furniture
Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Onyx
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Furniture
Onyx
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Plywood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Furniture
Ceramic, Stoneware
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Nickel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Furniture
Marble, Nickel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Glass
2010s Turkish Modern Furniture
Wool
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Wood
2010s Spanish Modern Furniture
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Belgian Modern Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Senegalese Modern Furniture
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Furniture
Resin, Plaster
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Furniture
Stoneware, Parchment Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Upholstery
2010s Brazilian Modern Furniture
Leather, Textile, Upholstery, Laminate, Hardwood
2010s Argentine Modern Furniture
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Furniture
Carrara Marble, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Furniture
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Fur
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Furniture
Bronze
2010s German Modern Furniture
Steel
2010s Portuguese Modern Furniture
Metal
2010s Brazilian Modern Furniture
Metal
2010s American Modern Furniture
Ceramic
2010s Italian Modern Furniture
Glass, Braid
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Furniture
Brass