Modern Lowboys
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Lowboys
Brass, Iron
2010s German Modern Lowboys
Glass
2010s Belgian Modern Lowboys
Concrete
2010s German Modern Lowboys
Glass
2010s German Modern Lowboys
Glass
2010s German Modern Lowboys
Glass
2010s German Modern Lowboys
Glass
2010s German Modern Lowboys
Glass
2010s German Modern Lowboys
Glass
2010s Chinese Modern Lowboys
Steel
1970s Spanish Vintage Modern Lowboys
Bronze
2010s Canadian Modern Lowboys
Maple
2010s French Modern Lowboys
Oak
2010s Italian Modern Lowboys
Copper, Iron, Lead
2010s Italian Modern Lowboys
Aluminum, Lead, Gold Leaf
2010s Canadian Modern Lowboys
Maple
2010s French Modern Lowboys
Brass, Iron
2010s French Modern Lowboys
Brass, Iron
2010s Argentine Modern Lowboys
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lowboys
Ziricote
1970s Vintage Modern Lowboys
Lucite
1990s English Modern Lowboys
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Lowboys
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lowboys
Marble, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Lowboys
Oak
2010s American Modern Lowboys
Bronze
20th Century French Modern Lowboys
Marble, Stone, Brass, Metal
Early 2000s American Modern Lowboys
Aluminum
2010s Mexican Modern Lowboys
Plywood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Lowboys
Travertine
1960s American Vintage Modern Lowboys
Metal, Aluminum
2010s Canadian Modern Lowboys
Maple
2010s American Modern Lowboys
Marble
1960s North American Vintage Modern Lowboys
Glass, Walnut
Late 19th Century Spanish Antique Modern Lowboys
Iron
1960s American Vintage Modern Lowboys
Slate, Bronze, Copper, Pewter
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Lowboys
Sheet Metal
2010s Belgian Modern Lowboys
Marble
2010s French Modern Lowboys
Oak
2010s French Modern Lowboys
Oak
2010s Belgian Modern Lowboys
Concrete
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lowboys
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Lowboys
Steel