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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Clay, Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
2010s German Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1970s French Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Contemporary Art
Glass, Wood, Paper
20th Century Swedish Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
2010s Danish Modern Contemporary Art
Onyx
20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Resin, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint, Clay
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Scagliola
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Clay, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
2010s Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Faience, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum, Gold Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Resin, Scagliola
1980s English Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Wood
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Resin, Scagliola
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Contemporary Art
Giltwood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Clay, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Clay, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Scagliola, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
Composition
2010s Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Faience, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Cut Glass
2010s Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Faience, Wood





