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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Roy Lichtenstein "Paper Plate" Original Encased in Heavy Custom Lucite Block
Located in North Miami, FL
Created exclusively for Barneys of New York by the Estate of Roy Lichtenstein, the heavy and custom acrylic display box provides front and rear views of this master work. Stamped wit...
Acrylic, Paper
Monumental LED Shadowbox Art Diorama with Taxidermy Horseshoe Crabs, In Stock
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Drones, 2022, is a techno-futuristic riff on the traditional Victorian shadowbox containing horseshoe crab carapaces collected by hand on a visit t...
Brass
Robert Matheny Glitter Painting
Located in Chicago, IL
Robert E. Matheny Glitter on canvass. Early work 1969, original Lucite shadow box frame. Visual artist starting in circa 1960, two years after graduating from Long Beach state College with an art education Masters Degree, Contemporary of John Baldessari, San Diego Art...
Canvas
Contemporary Burmese Dolls in Lucite Display Case
Located in Franklin Park, IL
Contemporary Burmese Dolls in Lucite Display Case This display case measures: 69 wide x 5 deep x 34.25 inches high Each piece of Fine Art is care...
Metal
Haori Jacket by Greg Copeland
Located in Sagaponack, NY
A Japanese silk haori float-mounted on an acrylic rod to a stretched pink cloth canvas in a custom formed acrylic shadow box by artist Greg Copeland...
Silk, Acrylic
$11,400
H 15.75 in W 35.44 in D 1.5 in
In stock ClockClock 24 Black with Golden Hands by Humans Since 1982
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
ClockClock 24 is both a kinetic sculpture and a functioning wall clock. It has been a signature piece of Humans since 1982 since it was first launched in 2016. The individual clock h...
Composition, Gold Plate
$940Sale Price|20% Off
H 15.5 in W 21.75 in D 175 in
Antique 18th Century French Neoclassical Hera's Chariot Hand Fan Shadowbox
Located in Dayton, OH
Antique 18th century French Louis XVI / Neoclassical painted boudoir hand fan. White sticks pierced with foliate / floral designs as well as trumpets and sheets of music; gilded acce...
Silk, Paint
Museum Display of Exotic Butterflies
Located in Coeur d'Alene, ID
Late 19th Century to early 20th Century museum display of exotic butterflies. An impressive shadowbox displaying a variety of pinned and preserved butterflies, most with paper labels...
Natural Fiber, Wood
$1,833
H 27.56 in W 37.01 in D 1.78 in
19th Century Chinese Silk Embroidered Ceremonial Jacket in Display Picture Frame
Located in West Sussex, Pulborough
We are delighted to offer this very rare 19th century Chinese silk embroidered ceremonial robe in a lovely glass picture frame display case An extremely decorative piece, the qual...
Silk
Painting by Robert Geenens, Belgium
By Robert Geenens
Located in Antwerp, BE
Painting by Robert Hector Geenens. Started with fantastic realism, often surrealism, open to dreams and imagination. Tended afterwards towards lyric abstraction and magic abstracti...
Wood
$900Sale Price|50% Off
H 37 in W 39 in D 0.75 in
Roy Lichtenstein Pop Art Kiss Poster 1964 Original Ltd. #562
Located in Miami, FL
Roy Lichtenstein Pop Art Kiss Poster 1964 Original Ltd. #562 Offered for sale is a Roy Lichtenstein pop art poster from 1964 Original Ltd. #562 published...
Plexiglass, Wood, Paper
$736
H 16.93 in W 13 in D 1.19 in
Victorian Pressed Flower Oddity, Botanical Art in Gilt Oval Frame, 19th Century
Located in ROUEN, Normandie
Victorian Pressed Flower Oddity, Botanical Art in Gilt Oval Frame, 19th Century Antique botanical composition featuring a delicate array of hand-pressed flowers and foliage, artfull...
Fabric, Glass, Organic Material, Giltwood
Robert Loughlin “RIOT” Painting
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Paint on found wooden frame by New York City picking and art legend, Robert Loughlin. Featured in Patrick Parrish Gallery's “Robert Loughlin: 1998-2011” exhibition in 2021. ROBERT LOUGHLIN (1949 - 2011) may have been one of the most elusive artists in New York, but his work was everywhere. You might have noticed his signature graffiti of a square-jawed man, The Brute, randomly appearing on doors, signs, and walls all over the city. Like his fellow graffiti artists who emerged during the 1980s, such as Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Kenning Scharf, Loughlin has now become a collectible name. Once considered outsiders to the mainstream art world, graffiti artists now command top dollar for their work and are shown in museums all over the world. When he wasn't making his mark on the city streets, Robert Loughlin still incorporated a similar grittiness into his art. He would ransack antique stores, thrift shops, flea markets, galleries, and estate sales and emerge with treasures that he would use as his canvas. Nothing was sacred...
Wood, Paint
Roy Lichtenstein Hand & Foot
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Roy Lichtenstein "Hand & Foot" Signed and numbered original Lithograph. 265/ 300, 1964. Iconic Image from one of the 1960's master of POP. Image area is 16.25 x20.75. Overall fra...
Paper
$10,000Sale Price|20% Off
H 29 in W 21 in D 7.5 in
Gothic Style Huge Triptych Shadow Box/Display Of Orthodox Church Silver Icons
Located in Guaynabo, PR
This is a Gothic style huge triptych shadow box/display of an Orthodox Church silver icons. The triptych is a large ogee shaped arc closed display made of heavy wood and glass. When you open the doors, it features some icons painted on wood and covered by an embossed and chased silver oklads with some gilt areas. They are framed by some red velvet. In the center, there are two icons who represent St.Paul and St.Peter; above them is the Almighty God...
Silver
ICHIMATSU by Blue Tip atelier
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
Title : ICHIMATSU Japan / 2020s Size : W 1480 x H 1480 mm Each part is dyed with indigo to express a checkered pattern that collapses. This quilt is made with Woven fresh linen. Hand-quilted with cotton thread. Hand dyed with indigo. [Blue Tip atelier...
Linen
$1,018
H 31.11 in W 23.23 in D 0.04 in
Original Vintage Art Exhibition Advertising Poster M-Maybe Roy Lichtenstein
Located in London, GB
Original vintage exhibition advertising poster featuring the romance comics 1965 Pop Art painting M-Maybe designed in 1965 by the notable pop artist Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997), dep...
Paper
David Gilhooly (1943-2013) Wall Assemblage
Located in Palm Springs, CA
David Gilhooly (1943 - 2013) assemblage. Assemblage measure 30.5" wide, 9" deep and 34.25" high. This is probably one of the largest assemblages that David made. Signed on the bac...
Plastic
Sold
H 13.25 in W 13.25 in D 3 in
Roy Lichtenstein "Paper Plate" Original Encased in Heavy Custom Lucite Block
Located in North Miami, FL
Created exclusively for Barneys of New York by the Estate of Roy Lichtenstein, the heavy and custom acrylic display box provides front and rear views of this master work. Stamped wit...
Acrylic, Paper
Single Bathroom Series by artist Darryl Norem (1986)
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Signed cut paper painting of a bathroom scene by artist Darryl Norem (1949-2011). Beautifully framed in a thick shadow box. Clever Subject and exec...
Paper
Sold
H 34.26 in W 26.38 in D 2.76 in
Wall Object Organizer Designed by Dorothee Becker for Design M Ingo Maurer, 1969
By Dorothee Maurer-Becker, M Design
Located in MIlano, IT
Black plastic wall object organizer designed by Dorothee Becker for Design M Ingo Maurer, 1969 Wall object holder in glossy black abs and hooks in nic...
Metal
Becky Davis Botanicals Nutgrass Cyperus Esculentus Floral Wheat 61"
Located in Dayton, OH
"From flowers and grasses to ferns and leaves, each stem is hand picked by Becky, who wades into alligator infested waters in South Carolina's lowcountry to find the perfect specimen...
Organic Material
2 Becky Davis Botanicals Fragrant Water Lily Leaf Nymphaea Odorata Floral
Located in Dayton, OH
From flowers and grasses to ferns and leaves, each stem is hand picked by Becky, who wades into alligator infested waters in South Carolina's lowcountry to find the perfect specimen ...
Organic Material
Abstract String Wall Art In Square Lucite Shadow Box
Located in Haddonfield, NJ
Square abstract wall art in square Lucite shadow box. The strings are artfully strung around brass nails on a light gray linen background.
Linen, String, Lucite
1960s Sculptural Collage by William Sildar
Located in Sagaponack, NY
A blackened sculptural relief collage by William Sildar with dark pink matte backdrop and white painted wood frame.
Ceramic, Wood
Painting by Cuban American artist Jose-Maria Mijares
By José María Mijares
Located in North Miami, FL
Beautiful painting by Cuban American artist Jose Maria Mijares (Havana 1921- Miami 2004). Mijares had a long career which began in Cuba where be had...
Canvas, Wood
Op Art Butterfly Box
Located in Chireno, TX
Op art butterfly box: vintage (circa 1960-1979) Op Art handcut into butterfly shapes and pinned within a shadow box as specimen. Framed in unfinished maple. Two more similar pieces a...
Glass, Maple, Paper
Op Art Butterfly Box
Located in Chireno, TX
Op art butterfly box: vintage (circa 1960-1979) Op art handcut into butterfly shapes and pinned within a shadow box as specimen. Framed in unfinished map...
Glass, Maple, Paper
Op Art Butterfly Box
Located in Chireno, TX
Op art butterfly box: vintage (circa 1960-1979) Op art handcut into butterfly shapes and pinned within a shadow box as specimen. Framed in unfinished map...
Glass, Maple, Paper