Modern Contemporary Art
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Late 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Paint
1980s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Wood, Paint, Paper
20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
Composition
2010s German Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Plaster, Beech, Plywood
2010s German Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Art Glass, Fiberglass, Paint
2010s German Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Plywood
20th Century Belgian Modern Contemporary Art
Masonite, Paint
Mid-20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Paint
2010s Canadian Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s Ukrainian Modern Contemporary Art
Glass
Mid-20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Paint
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Lucite, Paper
2010s Ukrainian Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
Early 20th Century English Modern Contemporary Art
Marble, Breccia Marble
Late 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Paint
Early 2000s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
Early 2000s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
1990s American Modern Contemporary Art
Concrete, Metal
2010s Ukrainian Modern Contemporary Art
Glass
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Enamel
2010s Dutch Modern Contemporary Art
Glass
Early 2000s American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
2010s English Modern Contemporary Art
Textile, Wool, Thread, Yarn
Late 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Wood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
1990s Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s Chinese Modern Contemporary Art
Wood
Late 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Enamel
Late 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paper
1980s American Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Glass, Paper
2010s Dutch Modern Contemporary Art
Paint, Paper, Acrylic
1990s American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Wood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Plexiglass, Wood, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Enamel
20th Century North American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Plexiglass, Wood, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Natural Fiber
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Plexiglass, Wood, Paper
1980s German Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
2010s Danish Modern Contemporary Art
Onyx
2010s German Modern Contemporary Art
Paint, Canvas
20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Plexiglass, Wood, Paper
2010s German Modern Contemporary Art
Paint, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Contemporary Art
Wood, Paper, Plexiglass
2010s American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic