Vintage Space Age furniture captured post–World War II optimism with swooping shapes, bowed lines and experimentation with new materials including plastic and fiberglass.
From the launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite in 1957 to the landing of Apollo 11 astronauts on the moon in 1969, the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States propelled advancements in technology that transformed culture. Space Age design encompassed fashion, architecture, cars, furniture and objects for the home, bringing wonder and hope for the future into everyday life.
Coinciding with Pop art, Space Age style featured bold colors and forms. Eero Aarnio’s Ball chair, which debuted in 1966, used molded fiberglass for a capsule-like space while Verner Panton’s 1959 Panton chair was a single piece of molded plastic for a gravity-defying S shape. Red versions of Olivier Mourgue’s 1964 Djinn chair were futuristic enough to appear on the space station in Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Today, Joe Colombo is revered as a master of modern Italian design thanks to the provocative modular furniture pieces he created, such as the Tube chair and the Elda armchair, both of which embody the future-forward spirit of the Space Age.
The Space Age spirit extended to home building too. The futuristic Case Study Houses, which were designed by the likes of Pierre Koenig, Charles and Ray Eames, Richard Neutra and Whitney R. Smith, are considered a high point of modernism and the Southern California lifestyle.
Sometimes the nods to space exploration were more literal, like moon and star motifs or the 1965 Eclisse lamp by Vico Magistretti that saw the mid-century Italian designer integrating a movable inner shade to “eclipse” the light source. Alongside the pioneering moon missions, JVC manufactured the Videosphere portable television reminiscent of the Apollo 11 space helmets.
Although the style faded in the 1970s — with the 1975 joining of the Apollo and Soyuz spacecrafts signaling a new era of cooperation and the global oil crisis impacting the availability of plastics — the era’s innovations influenced designers into the 21st century such as Zaha Hadid and Djivan Schapira.
Find a collection of vintage Space Age seating, tables, lighting and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Drawing, male nude with classical/industrial symbolic elements by Dusan Gakovic
Located in Beograd, RS
In this listing you will find an expressive academic drawing by Serbian and Yugoslav sculptor Dušan Gaković demonstrates the artist’s exceptional mastery of anatomy and classical dra...
Wood, Paper
Drawing, male nude with classical symbolic elements by Dusan Gakovic
Located in Beograd, RS
In this listing you will find an expressive academic drawing by Serbian and Yugoslav sculptor Dušan Gaković demonstrates the artist’s exceptional mastery of anatomy and classical dra...
Wood, Paper
Drawing, male nude with classical symbolic elements by Dusan Gakovic
Located in Beograd, RS
In this listing you will find an expressive academic drawing by Serbian and Yugoslav sculptor Dušan Gaković demonstrates the artist’s exceptional mastery of anatomy and classical dra...
Wood, Paper
Drawing, male nude with classical symbolic elements by Dusan Gakovic
Located in Beograd, RS
In this listing you will find an expressive academic drawing by Serbian and Yugoslav sculptor Dušan Gaković demonstrates the artist’s exceptional mastery of anatomy and classical dra...
Wood, Paper
Drawing, male nude with classical symbolic elements by Dusan Gakovic
Located in Beograd, RS
In this listing you will find an expressive academic drawing by Serbian and Yugoslav sculptor Dušan Gaković demonstrates the artist’s exceptional mastery of anatomy and classical dra...
Wood, Paper
2x Unique Aluminium Mural with Enamel by Jung 1977, Germany
Located in Nürnberg, Bayern
Absolutely unique. Handmade pictures from aluminium and enamel. One picture is a little tarnished at the back. See pictures. Absolute eye-catchers.
Metal, Aluminum, Enamel
"St. George and the Dragon, " Art Deco Drawing with Male Nude by Goor
By Gaston Goor
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This dramatic drawing of St. George and the dragon was executed in 1954 by Gaston Goor, who was famous for illustrating a number of books by Roger Peyrefitte and others in France. Go...
$3,400
H 14.75 in W 13 in D 0.5 in
"Nude Archer, " Bold Ink Drawing with Male Nude, Influenced by Klimt
By Erwin Stolz
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Bold and atmospheric, this ink drawing depicts a kneeling nude male figure, his bow arched and his arrow ready to spring forward, surrounded by a flower-bedecked landscape that clearly draws its inspiration from Gustav Klimt's work. To the left, silhouetted against the dark background, a pair of stylized geese -- evidently his target -- are shown flying upward. The sun which dapples the figure of the archer highlights his lithe musculature, and the artist -- Erwin Stolz -- gives the same close attention to the landscape behind. Stolz was well connected to the artistic elite of Vienna, and was friends with Alexander Rothaug...
Paper
$9,500
H 19.75 in W 23 in D 0.75 in
"Reclining Male Nude", Important Drawing by Edward Wolfe, Duncan Grant's Circle
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This important, beautifully rendered drawing of a reclining male nude figure was made by Edward Wolfe, who was born in South Africa but spent much of his career in Great Britain in the company of Duncan Grant and other celebrated gay artists. A year after arriving in England in 1916, Roger Fry invited Wolfe to join the Omega Workshops, where he painted and designed furniture with strong colors influenced by the Fauvist movement. Wolfe connected to Grant and the Bloomsbury Group...
Paper
$1,760Sale Price|20% Off
H 20.5 in W 12 in D 0.1 in
"Standing Male Nude, " Pastel Drawing by Allyn Cox, US Capitol Muralist
By Allyn Cox
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Beautifully executed in warm, roseate colors -- coral, terra cotta, brick and ivory -- this drawing was made by Allyn Cox, probably as a study for one of many murals he was commissioned to paint at the US Capitol...
Paper
$3,750
H 10.5 in W 15 in D 0.1 in
"Seated Male Nude, " Superb Drawing by Allyn Cox, US Capitol Muralist
By Allyn Cox
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This handsome drawing of a seated male nude, executed in pastel, demonstrates Allyn Cox's superb draftsmanship and mastery of color. Depicting his subject from behind, as he leans to his left, is reminiscent of the work of the great masters from the Renaissance, the 18th century and 19th century. Cox spent 20 years painting and restoring murals at the US Capitol...
$2,750
H 24 in W 18 in D 0.1 in
"Contemplation, " Brilliantly-Hued Pastel Drawing of Standing Male Nude by Cox
By Allyn Cox
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Sensuous and vividly-hued, this pastel drawing of a standing male nude with his head resting against the wall was made by Allyn Cox, son of the famous muralist Kenyon Cox...
Paper
"Nude Male with Hand to Chest, " Drawing by Raoul du Bois
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Powerful and eloquent, this drawing by Raoul Pene du Bois showcases his mastery of the human figure, expressed with his usual Mannerist approach -- all elongated limbs and stylized p...
"Standing Male Nude", Pencil Drawing by William Littlefield, 1937
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Powerfully expressed, with the angular stylization characteristic of Art Deco decorative art, this pencil drawing was executed in 1937 by William Littlefield. The artist was fascina...
Paper
$3,900
H 20.25 in W 16 in D 0.75 in
"Reclining Male Nude", Important Early Pencil Drawing by John B. Lear, 1960
By John B. Lear
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This fine and very early drawing by John B. Lear shows the care with which he captured the beauty, strength and character of the men he admired. Lear's earliest works are often in o...
Paper
$8,500
H 21.5 in W 17.75 in D 1 in
"Sealing the Sarcophagus", Early, Important Drawing by Goor w/ Male Nudes
By Gaston Goor
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Early and important in the oeuvre of Gaston Goor, this beautifully considered drawing of two male nudes sealing a sarcophagus was clearly influenced by the work of Michelangelo and o...
Paper
19th Century Drawing of Male Nude
Located in Pasadena, CA
Beautifully rendered drawing of male nude. This drawing is most probably French in origin, dating to the late 19th or early 20th century. The drawing...
Paper
"Standing Male Nude, " Preparatory Drawing by Dunbar Beck
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This ethereal drawing by Dunbar Beck demonstrates his mastery of the human figure, with antecedents in Renaissance and Pre-Raphaelite paintings. Beck was one of America's most accomp...
Sold
H 44.1 in W 44.1 in D 0.79 in
Danish Space Age Kinetic Brown, Orange and White Canvas by Verner Panton, 1970s
Located in MIlano, IT
Danish space age kinetic brown, orange and white canvas by Verner Panton, 1970s Canvas with kinetic design in shades of orange, brown and white, belonging to a set of three differen...
Canvas
1972, Original Drawing by Ettore Sottsass
Located in Perpignan, FR
Original drawing by the famous Italian designer Ettore Sottsass 1972. Hand signed Pencil and watercolor Very good condition Sizes: A3 (30 x 42 cm).
Paint