Modern Prints
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Spanish Modern Prints
Paper
20th Century Modern Prints
Other
1980s North American Vintage Modern Prints
Paper
2010s Chinese Modern Prints
Paper
20th Century American Modern Prints
Paint, Paper
1990s Spanish Modern Prints
Paper
2010s Spanish Modern Prints
Paper
1970s Unknown Vintage Modern Prints
Paper
2010s Spanish Modern Prints
Paper
2010s British Modern Prints
Acrylic, Paper
1970s American Vintage Modern Prints
Paper
Late 20th Century Cuban Modern Prints
Giltwood, Paper
2010s Turkish Modern Prints
Metal
1950s American Vintage Modern Prints
Brass
2010s Spanish Modern Prints
Paper
Early 2000s Chinese Modern Prints
Paper
1980s French Vintage Modern Prints
Plexiglass
1970s Mexican Vintage Modern Prints
Plexiglass, Paper
2010s Spanish Modern Prints
Paper
19th Century American Antique Modern Prints
2010s Modern Prints
Paper
1990s Spanish Modern Prints
Paper
1990s Brazilian Modern Prints
Paper
1990s Brazilian Modern Prints
Paper
2010s American Modern Prints
Wood, Paper
2010s Spanish Modern Prints
Paper
1980s Danish Vintage Modern Prints
Paper
2010s Spanish Modern Prints
Paper
2010s American Modern Prints
Wood, Paper
1990s Brazilian Modern Prints
Paper
1970s American Vintage Modern Prints
Metal
2010s American Modern Prints
Wood, Paper
1980s Unknown Vintage Modern Prints
Paper
2010s American Modern Prints
Wood, Paper
2010s Italian Modern Prints
Canvas, Wood, Cotton
2010s Italian Modern Prints
Canvas, Wood, Cotton
1990s Brazilian Modern Prints
Paper
1990s Brazilian Modern Prints
Paper
1990s Brazilian Modern Prints
Paper
1990s Brazilian Modern Prints
Paper
1960s European Vintage Modern Prints
Paper
1990s Brazilian Modern Prints
Paper
1990s Brazilian Modern Prints
Paper
Early 2000s Egyptian Modern Prints
Oak, Paint, Paper
2010s Italian Modern Prints
Cotton, Canvas, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Prints
Aluminum
1960s Chinese Vintage Modern Prints
Paper
20th Century Unknown Modern Prints
Paper
2010s American Modern Prints
Wood, Paper
1970s Unknown Vintage Modern Prints
Paper
2010s Chinese Modern Prints
Paper
2010s American Modern Prints
Metal
2010s Chinese Modern Prints
Paper
1950s French Vintage Modern Prints
Paper
Late 20th Century American Modern Prints
Glass, Wood, Paper
Mid-20th Century American Modern Prints
Metal
Late 20th Century North American Modern Prints
Glass, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Israeli Modern Prints
Canvas, Wood