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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 German Modern Contemporary Art
Paint, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Contemporary Art
Textile, Wool, Thread, Yarn
2010s Mexican Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s Finnish Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Paint, Paper
1990s French Modern Contemporary Art
Natural Fiber
2010s Mexican Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic
2010s Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Other
1970s Japanese Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
1990s American Modern Contemporary Art
Other
1970s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
Early 2000s Australian Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Cotton
2010s Modern Contemporary Art
Feathers
2010s English Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
Late 20th Century Modern Contemporary Art
Hardwood, Paint
Late 20th Century British Modern Contemporary Art
Papercord, Paper
2010s Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Wool, Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Wool, Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Wool, Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Wool, Cotton
1990s American Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paper
2010s Modern Contemporary Art
Feathers
2010s Modern Contemporary Art
Feathers
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Plexiglass
Mid-20th Century Swiss Modern Contemporary Art
Silver Leaf
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
Early 2000s Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Plastic
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Canvas
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Birch
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Watercolor