The Noguchi table and the Eames plywood chair in the "Modern Furniture" article you linked to would also be regarded as midcentury modern. (And check out the N

The Noguchi table and the Eames plywood chair in the "Modern Furniture" article you linked to would also be regarded as midcentury modern. (And check out the Noguchi "cloud" sofa: http://observer.com/2014/12/the-six-figure-sofa-mid-century-modern-goes-on-the-block/ http://observer.com/2014/12/the-six-figure-sofa-mid-century-...). If this is kitsch, count me in. In other words: It's a slippery slope from what you might call "high modernism" (e.g., Bauhaus) to midcentury modern. Trying to characterize one as pure and one as consumerist seems like a category error -- these adjectives pertain more to specific pieces or arrangements than to the whole movement. Similarly, arguing about whether these pieces are "dated" seems beside the point. The works were a product of their time. Some of them continue to impress. Another point of reference regarding the idiosyncratic ways that modernism presented itself is Alvar Aalto, the Finnish architect and designer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvar_Aalto http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvar_Aalto). His furniture and interiors would also be regarded as modernist, and (being Finnish) very centered around wood. Some of it might look "spindly and kitschy", especially depending on how it is arranged in a room. But check out http://www.archdaily.com/85390/ad-classics-villa-mairea-alvar-aalto/ http://www.archdaily.com/85390/ad-classics-villa-mairea-alva.... Again, count me in.