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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Late 20th Century Russian Modern Paintings
Wood
1950s Hungarian Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint
Early 20th Century Hungarian Modern Paintings
Canvas
1960s Australian Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint
2010s American Modern Paintings
Paint
1930s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint
20th Century Australian Modern Paintings
Canvas
20th Century American Modern Paintings
Wood, Paint
1930s English Vintage Modern Paintings
Early 20th Century German Modern Paintings
Crayon
20th Century American Modern Paintings
Paper
1930s Belgian Vintage Modern Paintings
Pencil, Paper
2010s British Modern Paintings
Wood, Paint
20th Century Modern Paintings
Paint
2010s American Modern Paintings
Aluminum
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Paintings
Other
20th Century European Modern Paintings
Silver Leaf
1960s Unknown Vintage Modern Paintings
Other
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Masonite
2010s American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Masonite
Early 2000s North American Modern Paintings
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Masonite
1970s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
2010s Italian Modern Paintings
Paper
20th Century North American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Paint, Paper
Late 20th Century French Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Wood, Paint
1980s Mexican Vintage Modern Paintings
Other
2010s German Modern Paintings
Brass, Gold Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Canvas
1970s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paper
Early 2000s American Modern Paintings
Canvas