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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 British Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
1940s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Paintings
Cotton, Paper, Acrylic
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Metal
2010s American Modern Paintings
Silver Leaf
1930s Belgian Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
1970s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint, Giltwood, Wood
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Paint
20th Century Modern Paintings
Masonite
1970s French Vintage Modern Paintings
Paper
Late 20th Century Belgian Modern Paintings
Wood
Late 20th Century Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s German Modern Paintings
Beech, Plywood, Paint
Early 2000s American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Paint
Early 2000s Italian Modern Paintings
Paper
2010s American Modern Paintings
Metal
Early 2000s Italian Modern Paintings
Paper
Late 20th Century Russian Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Paint
Late 20th Century Irish Modern Paintings
Canvas
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
1970s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Giltwood
1950s French Vintage Modern Paintings
Glass, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Paintings
Linen, Hardwood, Masonite, Paint
Mid-20th Century European Modern Paintings
Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Paint
2010s Irish Modern Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Paper
Late 20th Century Irish Modern Paintings
Canvas
2010s American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Wood, Paint
20th Century American Modern Paintings
Linen, Wood, Lacquer
2010s Irish Modern Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Paintings
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Paint
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Paintings
Other
1950s Swedish Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Paper
1970s Scandinavian Vintage Modern Paintings
Other
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Paintings
Other
1960s Swedish Vintage Modern Paintings
Other
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Paintings
Other
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Paintings
Other
Late 20th Century English Modern Paintings
Canvas, Giltwood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Paint
1960s Swedish Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
1960s Swedish Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas