Modern Wall Decorations
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1960s Spanish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
20th Century North American Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
1930s German Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
1970s French Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Acrylic
1940s French Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Ceramic, Acrylic
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Silk, Resin
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Wood
1990s Romanian Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas, Acrylic
Late 20th Century Dutch Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas
1970s North American Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
Late 20th Century American Modern Wall Decorations
Stone
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Wool, Wood
Mid-20th Century French Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
Late 20th Century American Modern Wall Decorations
Metal
1970s German Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Acrylic
1950s French Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Glass, Paper
Late 20th Century American Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas, Paint
Mid-20th Century European Modern Wall Decorations
Paint
Late 20th Century Mexican Modern Wall Decorations
Lacquer
Late 20th Century British Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas, Paint
20th Century Argentine Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
1980s English Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
1990s American Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Wood, Paint
Late 20th Century Irish Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas
Mid-20th Century Modern Wall Decorations
Pottery
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Wall Decorations
Pottery
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Wall Decorations
Pottery
1940s American Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Paint, Paper
1930s Spanish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Wood, Paper
1990s American Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
Mid-20th Century Spanish Modern Wall Decorations
Wool, Cotton
1960s Swedish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Other
1970s American Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas, Paint
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Ceramic
1960s Swedish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas
Late 20th Century English Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas, Giltwood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Metal
Late 20th Century Polish Modern Wall Decorations
Wood, Canvas
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Other
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Other
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Other
1970s Scandinavian Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Other
1950s Swedish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas
Late 20th Century English Modern Wall Decorations
Wood, Paper
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Ceramic
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Other
1980s American Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Paper
1960s Swedish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas
1970s Swedish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas
1960s Swedish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas
1950s Swedish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas
Mid-20th Century Swedish Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas
1960s Swedish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Other
1970s Scandinavian Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas
1960s Swedish Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas
Late 20th Century Irish Modern Wall Decorations
Canvas
1970s Japanese Vintage Modern Wall Decorations
Glass, Wood, Paper