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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
21st Century and Contemporary Japanese Modern Contemporary Art
Marble
2010s Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Wool, Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
Cotton, Paper, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Art Glass, Fiberglass, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Glass, Mirror, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Glass, Mirror, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Mirror, Wood, Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Marble, Onyx, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Glass, Mirror, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Paint, Art Glass, Fiberglass
1950s Swedish Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic
1990s Belgian Modern Contemporary Art
Wood
2010s Swedish Modern Contemporary Art
Concrete
1970s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Lucite, Paper
1990s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Japanese Modern Contemporary Art
Marble
1980s English Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s German Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Japanese Modern Contemporary Art
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Japanese Modern Contemporary Art
Marble
2010s Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
Wood
Late 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Wood
Late 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Paint, Paper
1990s American Modern Contemporary Art
Glass, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Glass, Paint
1990s Hungarian Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
Early 2000s French Modern Contemporary Art
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Trinidadian Modern Contemporary Art
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas