Modern Desks and Writing Tables
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
2010s Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Oak, Walnut, Plywood
2010s French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Copper
2010s American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Hardwood
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
2010s American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
2010s French Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Slate, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Marble
2010s European Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Plywood, Oak
2010s European Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Oak, Wood, Plywood
2010s European Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Plywood, Walnut
2010s European Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Plywood, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Walnut
2010s Mexican Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
2010s Canadian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Granite, Onyx, Marble, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Onyx
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Marble, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Onyx, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Onyx, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Onyx, Travertine, Marble, Carrara Marble, Brass, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Marble, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Marble, Onyx, Brass, Stainless Steel, Steel
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Oak, Plywood, Birch
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Marble, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Onyx, Marble, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Brass, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Cut Steel, Metal, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
2010s Danish Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Hardwood, Walnut
1980s Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Marble, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Central Asian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Iron
2010s Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Oak
20th Century Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Bamboo, Wicker
2010s Mexican Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Elm
1970s Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Rosewood
2010s British Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
2010s Canadian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Ash, Oak, Walnut
2010s Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
2010s Canadian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Ash, Oak, Walnut
1940s French Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Rosewood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
1970s French Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Steel
2010s Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Walnut
2010s American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
2010s American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Steel
1960s French Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Oak
2010s German Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Metal, Chrome
2010s American Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
1970s American Vintage Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Brass