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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
2010s Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Faience, Wood
2010s Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Faience, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Glass
2010s Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Faience, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Canvas
2010s German Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Wood, Plywood
2010s Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Faience, Wood
2010s German Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Art Glass, Wood, Glass
20th Century Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Sycamore, Paper
2010s German Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
1970s Spanish Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum, Gold Leaf
2010s Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Faience, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Marble, Brass
2010s British Modern Contemporary Art
Paint
2010s Swiss Modern Contemporary Art
Gold Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
2010s Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas
2010s English Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Acrylic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Contemporary Art
Metal, Enamel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
2010s Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Faience, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
Early 2000s Dutch Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Marble
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
Aluminum, Gold Leaf
1990s Hungarian Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum, Gold Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Glass
Late 20th Century German Modern Contemporary Art
Porcelain
2010s Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
Late 20th Century Modern Contemporary Art
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
Early 2000s Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Copper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum, Platinum
1980s German Vintage Modern Contemporary Art
Paint, Paper
2010s Danish Modern Contemporary Art
Onyx
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
2010s Danish Modern Contemporary Art
Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Marble, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Contemporary Art
Acrylic, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint, Clay
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Marble, Brass
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 Italian Modern Contemporary Art
Marble, Aluminum





