Modern Paintings
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
1980s Mexican Vintage Modern Paintings
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
Late 20th Century Modern Paintings
Metal
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Emirian Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Steel
1960s North American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paper
1970s North American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
Early 2000s Spanish Modern Paintings
Acrylic
1950s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Paintings
Metal
1990s Swedish Modern Paintings
Sheet Metal
2010s Spanish Modern Paintings
Paper
2010s Argentine Modern Paintings
Paint
1980s Unknown Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
Late 20th Century Venezuelan Modern Paintings
Paint, Canvas
1970s Unknown Vintage Modern Paintings
Other
1950s British Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Canvas
Early 2000s Spanish Modern Paintings
Acrylic
2010s North American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Canadian Modern Paintings
Canvas
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint
2010s Argentine Modern Paintings
Paint
1970s French Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Canvas
Late 20th Century Danish Modern Paintings
Other
Early 2000s Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas
2010s Canadian Modern Paintings
Canvas
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
Late 20th Century Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas
Early 2000s Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas
Late 20th Century Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas
Early 2000s Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas
Early 2000s Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas
Early 2000s Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas
Early 2000s Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas
Early 2000s Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas
Early 2000s Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas
Early 2000s Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas
Early 2000s Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas
Early 2000s Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas
Early 2000s Italian Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
Late 20th Century Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas
1930s American Vintage Modern Paintings
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Paintings
Ceramic
Early 2000s Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas
Late 20th Century Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas
Early 2000s Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas
Early 2000s Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas