Modern Tapestries
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
20th Century French Modern Tapestries
Wool, Silk
1950s American Vintage Modern Tapestries
Linen
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Tapestries
Cotton
20th Century French Modern Tapestries
Wool
20th Century French Modern Tapestries
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Tapestries
Cotton
1950s French Vintage Modern Tapestries
Wool
Late 20th Century Uzbek Modern Tapestries
Metallic Thread
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Tapestries
Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Tapestries
Cotton
Mid-20th Century French Modern Tapestries
Wool, Cotton, Silk
Mid-20th Century French Modern Tapestries
Wool, Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Tapestries
Wool, Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Tapestries
Wool, Cotton
2010s Ecuadorean Modern Tapestries
Bronze, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Tapestries
Cotton
2010s Ecuadorean Modern Tapestries
Bronze, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Nepalese Modern Tapestries
Wool
2010s Dutch Modern Tapestries
Metal
2010s American Modern Tapestries
Canvas
2010s American Modern Tapestries
Wool, Felt
1970s Argentine Vintage Modern Tapestries
Wool
20th Century American Modern Tapestries
Wood, Wool
Mid-20th Century Spanish Modern Tapestries
Wool, Cotton
20th Century French Modern Tapestries
Wool
2010s Dutch Modern Tapestries
Cotton, Linen, Wood
2010s Turkish Modern Tapestries
Metal
2010s Dutch Modern Tapestries
Wool, Alpaca, Yarn, Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Modern Tapestries
Other
Mid-20th Century French Modern Tapestries
Wool, Cotton, Silk
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Modern Tapestries
Wool
Mid-20th Century Egyptian Modern Tapestries
Wool
Mid-20th Century French Modern Tapestries
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Nepalese Modern Tapestries
Wool
20th Century French Modern Tapestries
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Tapestries
Wool
Mid-20th Century Spanish Modern Tapestries
Wool, Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Nepalese Modern Tapestries
Wool
20th Century French Modern Tapestries
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Tapestries
Wool, Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Tapestries
Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Tapestries
Wool
2010s Dutch Modern Tapestries
Cotton, Wood
Mid-20th Century French Modern Tapestries
Wool, Cotton, Silk
1980s French Vintage Modern Tapestries
Wool
2010s North Korean Modern Tapestries
Copper
Mid-20th Century Spanish Modern Tapestries
Wool, Cotton
20th Century French Modern Tapestries
Wool
2010s Indian Modern Tapestries
Wool
20th Century French Modern Tapestries
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Tapestries
Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Tapestries
Wool, Cotton
1980s American Vintage Modern Tapestries
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Modern Tapestries
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Nepalese Modern Tapestries
Wool
2010s Dutch Modern Tapestries
Cotton, Acrylic
2010s Dutch Modern Tapestries
Cotton, Wood
2010s Dutch Modern Tapestries
Cotton, Wood