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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1950s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
1960s Swedish Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
20th Century American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood
Late 20th Century French Modern Paintings
Wood, Paint, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Paint
1990s American Modern Paintings
Hardwood, Paint
Late 20th Century French Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Wood, Paint
Early 20th Century European Modern Paintings
Canvas
Early 2000s Chinese Modern Paintings
Wood, Giltwood, Paint
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Wood
1940s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
20th Century French Modern Paintings
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Paint
20th Century North American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint, Wood
Mid-20th Century Russian Modern Paintings
Other
20th Century American Modern Paintings
Wood
1980s Chinese Vintage Modern Paintings
Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Wood
2010s American Modern Paintings
Wool, Cotton, Acrylic
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint, Canvas
1970s German Vintage Modern Paintings
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Paintings
Canvas
2010s Danish Modern Paintings
Acrylic
1980s Chinese Vintage Modern Paintings
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Wood
1980s Vintage Modern Paintings
Other
Late 20th Century Modern Paintings
Plywood, Paint
2010s Canadian Modern Paintings
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
1980s French Vintage Modern Paintings
Glass, Wood, Paper
Early 20th Century Danish Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood
1950s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint
Late 20th Century French Modern Paintings
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary North American Modern Paintings
Paper
1980s Congolese Vintage Modern Paintings
Gold Leaf
Early 2000s Canadian Modern Paintings
Aluminum
1950s French Vintage Modern Paintings
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Paint
2010s Canadian Modern Paintings
Wood, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Paint
2010s American Modern Paintings
2010s Canadian Modern Paintings
Wood, Paper
Mid-20th Century American Modern Paintings
Paper
Late 20th Century Russian Modern Paintings
Canvas
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
2010s Canadian Modern Paintings
Wood, Paper
Mid-20th Century Hungarian Modern Paintings
Ceramic, Wood
2010s Canadian Modern Paintings
Wood, Paper
20th Century British Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
2010s Canadian Modern Paintings
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood
1970s Spanish Vintage Modern Paintings
Stainless Steel
2010s Canadian Modern Paintings
Wood, Paper
2010s Canadian Modern Paintings
Wood, Paper
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Wood
Late 20th Century Moldovan Modern Paintings
Wood
2010s Canadian Modern Paintings
Paper, Wood