Modern Desks
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 American Modern Desks
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Desks
Steel
2010s German Modern Desks
Steel
20th Century French Modern Desks
Brass, Wrought Iron
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Desks
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Desks
Hardwood
2010s French Modern Desks
Ash, Wood
2010s American Modern Desks
Stainless Steel
Early 2000s American Modern Desks
Leather, Wood
1950s French Vintage Modern Desks
Wood
2010s American Modern Desks
Art Glass, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Desks
Mahogany, Parchment Paper
18th Century and Earlier Italian Antique Modern Desks
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Desks
Metal, Steel, Cut Steel, Stainless Steel
2010s American Modern Desks
Metal
2010s Argentine Modern Desks
Wood
20th Century Spanish Modern Desks
Wood, Oak
2010s North American Modern Desks
Chrome
20th Century American Modern Desks
Wood
20th Century Unknown Modern Desks
Glass
1950s American Vintage Modern Desks
Aluminum, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Desks
Metal
2010s Canadian Modern Desks
Onyx, Steel
2010s American Modern Desks
Metal, Bronze, Steel, Cut Steel, Sheet Metal
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Desks
Steel
2010s Canadian Modern Desks
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Desks
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Desks
Oak
2010s French Modern Desks
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Desks
Oak
2010s American Modern Desks
Steel
2010s American Modern Desks
Chrome
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Desks
Glass
2010s Modern Desks
Chrome
1960s American Vintage Modern Desks
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Modern Desks
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Desks
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Desks
Metal, Steel
1960s German Vintage Modern Desks
Steel
2010s American Modern Desks
Brass
1940s American Vintage Modern Desks
Steel
2010s French Modern Desks
Metal
2010s Argentine Modern Desks
Bronze
2010s French Modern Desks
Metal
2010s French Modern Desks
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Desks
Steel, Chrome
2010s French Modern Desks
Metal
2010s French Modern Desks
Metal
1960s American Vintage Modern Desks
Steel, Chrome
2010s French Modern Desks
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Desks
Metal
Mid-20th Century European Modern Desks
Acrylic
1970s European Vintage Modern Desks
Stainless Steel
20th Century English Modern Desks
Shagreen
1950s Argentine Vintage Modern Desks
Wood
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Desks
Laminate, Mahogany
1970s American Vintage Modern Desks
Laminate, Oak
2010s Italian Modern Desks
Brass
1970s American Vintage Modern Desks
Laminate, Oak
1980s Danish Vintage Modern Desks
Oak





