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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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
Acrylic, Plexiglass, Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Wood, Paint
2010s Canadian Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic
Early 2000s American Modern Contemporary Art
Silver Leaf
1940s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
1990s American Modern Contemporary Art
Other
1990s French Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic, Paint
Late 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Fabric
1980s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
Late 20th Century French Modern Contemporary Art
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Scagliola, Wood
2010s Mexican Modern Contemporary Art
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
Late 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic, Plexiglass
21st Century and Contemporary Emirian Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1990s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Emirian Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Canvas
2010s Mexican Modern Contemporary Art
Marble
1970s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paint, Canvas
Early 2000s American Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
2010s Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
Wood
Early 2000s Japanese Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Emirian Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Emirian Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Emirian Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Emirian Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1960s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
1970s Belgian Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
Late 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Emirian Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Emirian Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1960s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Emirian Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
Late 20th Century Russian Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paint, Canvas
1980s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1970s Belgian Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
Late 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
Late 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paint
1970s Belgian Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
1970s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
Paint, Paper
20th Century Australian Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Moroccan Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
Late 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paint
1950s French Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
Late 20th Century French Modern Contemporary Art
Paint