Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
The design of brutalist furniture encompasses that which is crafted, hewn and worked by hand — an aesthetic rebuke (or, at least, a counterpoint) to furniture that is created using 21st-century materials and technology. Lately, the word “brutalist” has been adopted by the realms of furniture design and the decorative arts to refer to chairs, cabinets, tables and accessory pieces such as mirror frames and lighting that are made of rougher, deeply textured metals and other materials that are the visual and palpable antithesis of the sleek, smooth and suave.
ORIGINS OF BRUTALIST FURNITURE DESIGN
- Brutalism emerged during the mid-20th century
- Term coined by architecture critic Reyner Banham
- Originated in the United Kingdom
- Brutalist architecture gained popularity in the United States beginning in the early 1960s
- Inaugural brutalist projects include Unité d'habitation and the city of Chandigarh, India, both of which owe to influential architect Charles-Édouard “Le Corbusier” Jeanneret
- Le Corbusier’s cousin, Pierre Jeanneret, designed hundreds of chairs, tables, cabinets and lamps for Chandigarh
- Informed by the Bauhaus, constructivism, modernism and the International Style; part of mid-century modernism
- Contrasted starkly with Beaux Arts style
CHARACTERISTICS OF BRUTALIST FURNITURE DESIGN
- Use of industrial materials — tubular steel, concrete, glass, granite
- Prioritizes functionalism, minimalism and utilization of negative space
- Spare silhouettes, pronounced geometric shapes
- Stripped-down, natural look; rugged textures, modular construction
- Interiors featuring airy visual flow and reliance on neutral palettes
BRUTALIST FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
VINTAGE BRUTALIST FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
The term brutalism — which derives from the French word brut, meaning “raw” — was coined by architecture critic Reyner Banham to describe an architectural style that emerged in the 1950s featuring monumental buildings, usually made of unornamented concrete, whose design was meant to project an air of strength and solidity.
Le Corbusier essentially created the brutalist style; its best-known iterations in the United States are the Whitney Museum of American Art, which was designed by Marcel Breuer, and Paul Rudolph's Yale Art and Architecture Building. The severe style might have been the most criticized architectural movement of the 20th century, even if it was an honest attempt to celebrate the beauty of raw material. But while the brutalist government buildings in Washington, D.C., seemingly bask in their un-beauty, brutalist interior design and decor is much more lyrical, at times taking on a whimsical, romantic quality that its exterior counterparts lack.
Paul Evans is Exhibit A for brutalist furniture design. His Sculpture Front cabinets laced with high-relief patinated steel mounts have become collector's items nonpareil, while the chairs, coffee table and dining table in his later Cityscape series and Sculpted Bronze series for Directional Furniture are perhaps the most expressive, attention-grabbing pieces in American modern design. Other exemplary brutalist designers are Silas Seandel, the idiosyncratic New York furniture designer and sculptor whose works in metal — in particular his tables — have a kind of brawny lyricism, and Curtis Jere, a nom-de-trade for the California team of Curtis Freiler and Jerry Fels, the bold makers of expressive scorched and sheared copper and brass mirror frames and wall-mounted sculptures.
Brutalist furniture and sculptures remain popular with interior designers and can lend unique, eccentric, human notes to an art and design collection in any home.
Find authentic vintage brutalist chairs, coffee tables, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Mid-20th Century French Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Metal
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Bronze
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Stainless Steel
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Metal
1970s European Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Aluminum
1970s Italian Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Iron
2010s Mexican Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Hardwood
1970s Italian Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Travertine
2010s American Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Steel
1970s Danish Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Travertine
21st Century and Contemporary Croatian Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Oak
2010s American Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Bronze, Steel
2010s Mexican Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Hardwood
Mid-20th Century Tanzanian Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Wood, Ebony
21st Century and Contemporary Croatian Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Oak
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Croatian Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Walnut
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Brass, Wire
1960s Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Metal, Copper
1970s European Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Croatian Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Walnut
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Marble, Bronze
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Granite, Brass, Bronze
2010s Mexican Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Hardwood
20th Century Mexican Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Silver
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Bronze
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Metal
20th Century American Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Metal
1960s Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Iron
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Metal, Iron
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Brass, Iron
1970s Unknown Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Iron
Late 20th Century American Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Copper
Mid-20th Century Italian Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Metal, Cut Steel
1970s North American Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Iron
2010s Mexican Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Hardwood
1980s French Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Birch
1970s Italian Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Brass
1970s Scandinavian Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Glass
Late 20th Century American Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Marble, Brass
2010s Mexican Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Hardwood
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Metal
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Wrought Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Croatian Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Oak
2010s American Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Steel
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Metal, Brass, Copper
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Iron
1970s American Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Steel
Late 20th Century Dutch Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Wood
1960s American Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Steel, Chrome
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Bronze, Iron
1970s Belgian Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Clay
1970s Italian Vintage Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Travertine
Mid-20th Century American Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Bronze
2010s American Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Bronze, Enamel, Steel
2010s Mexican Brutalist Abstract Sculptures
Hardwood