Modern Photography
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Italian Modern Photography
Plexiglass
1980s Dutch Vintage Modern Photography
Paper
1950s French Vintage Modern Photography
Paper
Late 20th Century American Modern Photography
Glass, Wood, Paper
Late 20th Century American Modern Photography
Glass, Wood, Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Photography
Paper
Late 20th Century American Modern Photography
Glass, Wood, Paper
Late 20th Century American Modern Photography
Glass, Wood, Paper
1980s Dutch Vintage Modern Photography
Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Photography
Paper
Early 2000s Modern Photography
Acrylic, Wood, Paper
Late 20th Century Canadian Modern Photography
Metal
2010s Canadian Modern Photography
Paper
2010s Canadian Modern Photography
Paper
2010s Canadian Modern Photography
Paper
1990s American Modern Photography
Paper
1990s American Modern Photography
Paper
1990s American Modern Photography
Paper
2010s American Modern Photography
Paper
Late 20th Century American Modern Photography
Metal
Early 2000s French Modern Photography
Paper
1980s English Vintage Modern Photography
Paper
Late 20th Century French Modern Photography
Paper
1980s English Vintage Modern Photography
Paper
1970s American Vintage Modern Photography
Wood, Paper
Late 20th Century American Modern Photography
Wood, Paper
1970s American Vintage Modern Photography
Wood, Paper
1970s American Vintage Modern Photography
Wood, Paper
Early 2000s Finnish Modern Photography
Glass, Wood, Paper
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Photography
Wood, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Photography
Glass, Wood, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Photography
Glass, Paper
2010s American Modern Photography
Paper
2010s American Modern Photography
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Photography
Paper
2010s Swedish Modern Photography
Paper
1990s Modern Photography
Paper
20th Century Taiwanese Modern Photography
Paper
Early 2000s English Modern Photography
Paper
2010s Chinese Modern Photography
Paper, Acrylic
2010s Spanish Modern Photography
Paper
2010s Spanish Modern Photography
Paper
Late 20th Century Modern Photography
Paper
2010s Modern Photography
Paper
1940s American Vintage Modern Photography
Paper
Early 2000s American Modern Photography
Aluminum
1960s American Vintage Modern Photography
Paper
1990s American Modern Photography
Paper
1990s Modern Photography
Paper
1970s American Vintage Modern Photography
Paper
2010s Spanish Modern Photography
Paper
1990s American Modern Photography
Paper
2010s Spanish Modern Photography
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Photography
Glass, Wood, Paper
1990s American Modern Photography
Paper
Mid-20th Century American Modern Photography
Paper
Late 20th Century Latvian Modern Photography
Canvas
2010s Japanese Modern Photography
Paper