Mid Century Italian Art
Antique Mid-19th Century Italian Decorative Art
Wood, Fir, Paint
Mid-20th Century Italian Art Deco Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Walnut
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
Glass, Art Glass
Mid-20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Sculptures and Carvings
Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
Pottery
Mid-20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Glass
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Centerpieces
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Ceramics
Crystal
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Furniture
Leather
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
Glass, Mirror
Mid-20th Century Italian Art Deco Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass, Iron
Antique Mid-19th Century Italian Antiquities
Boxwood
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass, Sommerso
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Mirrors and Full-Lengt...
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
Murano Glass
Antique Mid-19th Century Italian Classical Roman Game Boards
Marble
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Jewelry Boxes
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
Art Glass
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Abstract Sculptures
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century Italian Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Lucite, Art Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Blown Glass
Antique Mid-19th Century Italian Antiquities
Boxwood
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Mid-20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Brass
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Art
Glass, Wood, Paper
Mid-20th Century Italian Mantel Clocks
Metal
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Italian Table Lamps
Art Glass
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Italian Art Deco Sideboards
Brass
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Glass, Acrylic, Wood, Paper
Mid-20th Century Italian Art Deco Dry Bars
Brass
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
Antique Mid-19th Century Italian Decorative Art
Wood
Antique Mid-19th Century Paintings
Paint
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
Mirror
Mid-20th Century Italian Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables
Brass
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern More Folk Art
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Italian Art Nouveau Sofas
Upholstery
Mid-20th Century Italian Art Deco Cabinets
Wood
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Animal Sculptures
Pottery
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Ceramics
Crystal
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Animal Sculptures
Art Glass
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Ceramics
Metal
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
Murano Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Glass
Blown Glass
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Pitchers
Art Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Art Deco Carts and Bar Carts
Wood
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
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Mid Century Italian Art For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Mid Century Italian Art?
A Close Look at Mid-century Modern Furniture
Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe vintage mid-century modern furniture. The style, which emerged primarily in the years following World War II, is characterized by pieces that were conceived and made in an energetic, optimistic spirit by creators who believed that good design was an essential part of good living.
ORIGINS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
- Emerged during the mid-20th century
- Informed by European modernism, Bauhaus, International style, Scandinavian modernism and Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture
- A heyday of innovation in postwar America
- Experimentation with new ideas, new materials and new forms flourished in Scandinavia, Italy, the former Czechoslovakia and elsewhere in Europe
CHARACTERISTICS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
- Simplicity, organic forms, clean lines
- A blend of neutral and bold Pop art colors
- Use of natural and man-made materials — alluring woods such as teak, rosewood and oak; steel, fiberglass and molded plywood
- Light-filled spaces with colorful upholstery
- Glass walls and an emphasis on the outdoors
- Promotion of functionality
MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
- Charles and Ray Eames
- Eero Saarinen
- Milo Baughman
- Florence Knoll
- Harry Bertoia
- Isamu Noguchi
- George Nelson
- Danish modernists Hans Wegner and Arne Jacobsen, whose emphasis on natural materials and craftsmanship influenced American designers and vice versa
ICONIC MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNS
- Eames lounge chair
- Nelson daybed
- Florence Knoll sofa
- Egg chair
- Womb chair
- Noguchi coffee table
- Barcelona chair
VINTAGE MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
The mid-century modern era saw leagues of postwar American architects and designers animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist International-style architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the 1930s by Philip Johnson and others. New building techniques, such as “post-and-beam” construction, allowed the International-style schemes to be realized on a small scale in open-plan houses with long walls of glass.
Materials developed for wartime use became available for domestic goods and were incorporated into mid-century modern furniture designs. Charles and Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen, who had experimented extensively with molded plywood, eagerly embraced fiberglass for pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair, respectively.
Architect, writer and designer George Nelson created with his team shades for the Bubble lamp using a new translucent polymer skin and, as design director at Herman Miller, recruited the Eameses, Alexander Girard and others for projects at the legendary Michigan furniture manufacturer.
Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were repurposed too: The Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs using surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests.
The Risom lounge chair was among the first pieces of furniture commissioned and produced by celebrated manufacturer Knoll, a chief influencer in the rise of modern design in the United States, thanks to the work of Florence Knoll, the pioneering architect and designer who made the firm a leader in its field. The seating that Knoll created for office spaces — as well as pieces designed by Florence initially for commercial clients — soon became desirable for the home.
As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century furniture designers caught the spirit.
Classically oriented creators such as Edward Wormley, house designer for Dunbar Inc., offered such pieces as the sinuous Listen to Me chaise; the British expatriate T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings switched gears, creating items such as the tiered, biomorphic Mesa table. There were Young Turks such as Paul McCobb, who designed holistic groups of sleek, blond wood furniture, and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in minimalist teak dining tables and lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.
Generations turn over, and mid-century modern remains arguably the most popular style going. As the collection of vintage mid-century modern chairs, dressers, coffee tables and other furniture for the living room, dining room, bedroom and elsewhere on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
- Is Art Deco mid-century modern?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertAugust 15, 2019
Art Deco is not mid-century modern. Art Deco began just before World War I and was inspired by cubism. Mid-century modernism first appeared in 1945 and merged a minimalist aesthetic with practicality.
Read More
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