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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Marble, Brass
2010s British Modern Contemporary Art
Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
Early 2000s American Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Wood, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Marble
20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paint
20th Century Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Canadian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
1980s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
2010s Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Faience, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Marble, Aluminum
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic
1980s French Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint, Clay
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Scagliola, Wood
1990s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
Late 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Wood
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum, Gold Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Wool, Cotton
2010s Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Faience, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Marble, Aluminum
1980s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum, Platinum
1980s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
Composition
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Concrete, Other
1970s French Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
1950s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Natural Fiber
2010s British Modern Contemporary Art
Silk, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Contemporary Art
Other
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Plexiglass, Wood, Paper
2010s Canadian Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Marble, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Resin, Scagliola
1950s European Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Paint
1970s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Resin, Scagliola
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Scagliola
Early 2000s American Modern Contemporary Art
Mid-20th Century Belgian Modern Contemporary Art
1950s French Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Faience, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Balkan Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Fiberglass, Acrylic, Mirror
21st Century and Contemporary Balkan Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Acrylic, Fiberglass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Glass