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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
2010s North American Modern Paintings
Cane, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Clay, Organic Material
1970s Dutch Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
1970s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Paper
Mid-20th Century American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood
Early 2000s American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1980s Danish Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
1990s Unknown Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Late 20th Century Belgian Modern Paintings
Paint
Late 20th Century Modern Paintings
Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
1970s French Vintage Modern Paintings
Paper
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Paper
1950s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
1970s French Vintage Modern Paintings
Paper
Late 20th Century Canadian Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Paint
20th Century Modern Paintings
Metal
20th Century French Modern Paintings
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Linen, Canvas, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Uzbek Modern Paintings
Chrome
1990s British Modern Paintings
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
1940s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Hardwood, Paint
2010s Slovak Modern Paintings
Paper
20th Century French Modern Paintings
Wood
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Paper
Mid-20th Century American Modern Paintings
Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paper, Paint
20th Century Danish Modern Paintings
Wood, Plywood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1970s Japanese Vintage Modern Paintings
Wood, Paint
2010s German Modern Paintings
Acrylic, Wood, Plywood
19th Century Antique Modern Paintings
Canvas
2010s Italian Modern Paintings
Paint, Paper
1980s Belgian Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic, Giltwood
1960s Swedish Vintage Modern Paintings
Other
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Paintings
Aluminum
1970s French Vintage Modern Paintings
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Paintings
Plaster
1980s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint, Wood
2010s English Modern Paintings
Paper
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
1980s Vintage Modern Paintings
Metal
2010s American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
1990s American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood
20th Century French Modern Paintings
Canvas
1950s Swedish Vintage Modern Paintings
Other
Late 20th Century American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas
Late 20th Century Belgian Modern Paintings
Canvas
1980s Dutch Vintage Modern Paintings
Wood, Paint
1970s Dutch Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Paint
1970s Scandinavian Vintage Modern Paintings
Other
Late 20th Century North American Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Paint
1950s American Vintage Modern Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Paint