Modern Drawings
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
20th Century English Modern Drawings
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20th Century English Modern Drawings
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Mid-20th Century Swedish Modern Drawings
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1980s French Vintage Modern Drawings
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1960s Belgian Vintage Modern Drawings
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1950s American Vintage Modern Drawings
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1970s Belgian Vintage Modern Drawings
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20th Century French Modern Drawings
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Mid-20th Century American Modern Drawings
Wood, Paper
1970s Belgian Vintage Modern Drawings
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1920s American Vintage Modern Drawings
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Late 20th Century Dutch Modern Drawings
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20th Century Chinese Modern Drawings
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20th Century French Modern Drawings
Wood, Paper
1950s French Vintage Modern Drawings
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1980s French Vintage Modern Drawings
Glass, Wood, Paper
1960s Mexican Vintage Modern Drawings
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1970s Mexican Vintage Modern Drawings
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1980s French Vintage Modern Drawings
Glass, Wood, Paper
2010s Spanish Modern Drawings
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2010s Spanish Modern Drawings
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1990s American Modern Drawings
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2010s Spanish Modern Drawings
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2010s Spanish Modern Drawings
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2010s Spanish Modern Drawings
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1980s Swiss Vintage Modern Drawings
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Mid-20th Century Scottish Modern Drawings
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Drawings
Plexiglass, Wood, Paper
2010s Spanish Modern Drawings
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2010s Spanish Modern Drawings
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21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Drawings
Plexiglass, Wood, Paper
2010s Spanish Modern Drawings
Paper
20th Century French Modern Drawings
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Drawings
Plexiglass, Wood, Paper
2010s Spanish Modern Drawings
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Drawings
Plexiglass, Wood, Paper
1930s Belgian Vintage Modern Drawings
Pencil, Paper
20th Century North American Modern Drawings
Paper
Late 20th Century American Modern Drawings
Paper
2010s American Modern Drawings
Wood, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Drawings
Plexiglass, Wood, Paper
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Drawings
Metal
1990s Modern Drawings
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1990s American Modern Drawings
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1990s American Modern Drawings
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Late 20th Century North American Modern Drawings
Paper
1970s French Vintage Modern Drawings
Other
1980s Swiss Vintage Modern Drawings
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Drawings
Mylar
20th Century Argentine Modern Drawings
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Drawings
Paper
Late 20th Century North American Modern Drawings
Paper
Mid-20th Century Mexican Modern Drawings
Paper
1980s Swiss Vintage Modern Drawings
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Drawings
Mylar
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Drawings
Mylar
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Drawings
Mylar
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Drawings
Other