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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
20th Century American Modern Paintings
Walnut, Paint
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Paint
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Plywood, Paint
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Wood
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Paper
20th Century French Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
20th Century German Modern Paintings
Canvas
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Paint, Canvas, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Australian Modern Paintings
Linen, Acrylic
1960s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Paper
Late 20th Century North American Modern Paintings
Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Wood
1970s German Vintage Modern Paintings
Acrylic
1990s English Modern Paintings
Canvas
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Paintings
Paint
1940s Unknown Vintage Modern Paintings
Masonite, Paint
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
2010s American Modern Paintings
Aluminum
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Paint
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paper, Paint
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Clay, Organic Material
20th Century North American Modern Paintings
Stainless Steel
20th Century Modern Paintings
Giltwood, Canvas, Wood, Paint
20th Century American Modern Paintings
Glass, Giltwood, Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
2010s Italian Modern Paintings
Paper, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Clay, Organic Material
1970s German Vintage Modern Paintings
Acrylic
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Paint
2010s Italian Modern Paintings
Paper, Wood