Modern Decorative 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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Mid-20th Century Ecuadorean Modern Decorative Art
Silver Plate
19th Century Antique Modern Decorative Art
Silver Leaf
2010s American Modern Decorative Art
Paper
20th Century English Modern Decorative Art
Silver Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Decorative Art
Sheet Metal, Metal, Sterling Silver, Brass, Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Decorative Art
Sheet Metal, Chrome, Sterling Silver, Gold Plate, Gold, Metal, Nickel, B...
Early 2000s Canadian Modern Decorative Art
Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Decorative Art
Art Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Decorative Art
Art Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Decorative Art
Ceramic, Paint, Clay
1920s English Vintage Modern Decorative Art
Paper
1890s English Antique Modern Decorative Art
Paper
Mid-19th Century Antique Modern Decorative Art
Paper
2010s Italian Modern Decorative Art
Leather, Wood
1970s American Vintage Modern Decorative Art
Chrome
1960s Ecuadorean Vintage Modern Decorative Art
Brass
19th Century Belgian Antique Modern Decorative Art
Paper
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Decorative Art
Silver Plate, Brass
1920s British Vintage Modern Decorative Art
Paper
1960s Ecuadorean Vintage Modern Decorative Art
Silver
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Decorative Art
Stained Glass
20th Century Modern Decorative Art
Silver Leaf
2010s American Modern Decorative Art
Silver Leaf