Modern Contemporary Art
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Contemporary Art
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2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
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2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
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2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
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2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
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2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
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2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
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2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
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2010s Dutch Modern Contemporary Art
Mirror, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Ukrainian Modern Contemporary Art
Metal
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Contemporary Art
Foil
Late 20th Century Venezuelan Modern Contemporary Art
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1970s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Paper
20th Century Belgian Modern Contemporary Art
Masonite, Paint
Late 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
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20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
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21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic
2010s Belgian Modern Contemporary Art
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21st Century and Contemporary North American Modern Contemporary Art
Ash, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paper
Early 17th Century American Antique Modern Contemporary Art
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21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Contemporary Art
Textile, Wool, Thread, Yarn
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
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Late 20th Century Slovak Modern Contemporary Art
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Late 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic
19th Century French Antique Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Paint, Canvas, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Contemporary Art
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21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paint
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Giltwood, Paint
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic, Wood
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic, Wood
1960s European Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
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2010s European Modern Contemporary Art
Wool, Cotton, Acrylic
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Glass, Wood, Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic, Wood, Paint, Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paint
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
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21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Plexiglass, Paper
2010s Dutch Modern Contemporary Art
Scrap Wood, Paint
2010s European Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paint
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Giltwood, Paint
20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper, Wood, Paint
20th Century Modern Contemporary Art
Metal
2010s German Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Wood, Plywood
20th Century Canadian Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Glass, Mirror, Wood
1970s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
2010s Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Faience, Wood