Modern Benches
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 European Modern Benches
Stainless Steel
2010s Emirian Modern Benches
Limestone
2010s American Modern Benches
Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Benches
Lacquer
2010s Modern Benches
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Benches
Upholstery, Velvet, Hardwood, Maple
2010s Indian Modern Benches
Fiberglass
20th Century French Modern Benches
Upholstery, Wood
2010s American Modern Benches
Leather
1980s American Vintage Modern Benches
Fabric
2010s American Modern Benches
Steel
2010s French Modern Benches
Aluminum
2010s South Korean Modern Benches
Plastic
2010s South Korean Modern Benches
Plastic
2010s Modern Benches
Brass
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Goatskin, Upholstery, Wood, Lacquer
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Benches
Silk, Velvet, Wood, Trimming
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Benches
Chestnut, Oak, Walnut
20th Century American Modern Benches
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Benches
Wood, Linen
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Benches
Velvet, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Benches
Other
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Benches
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Benches
Iron
2010s Portuguese Modern Benches
Textile, Wood
2010s American Modern Benches
Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Upholstery
2010s American Modern Benches
Wood
20th Century Italian Modern Benches
Steel
2010s Spanish Modern Benches
Upholstery, Velvet, Wood
1960s American Vintage Modern Benches
Steel
2010s American Modern Benches
Steel
1960s Swiss Vintage Modern Benches
Concrete, Steel
1950s American Vintage Modern Benches
Birch
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Steel
Late 20th Century American Modern Benches
Lucite
2010s Italian Modern Benches
Wood, Cedar
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Fabric, Wood
2010s Spanish Modern Benches
Upholstery, Velvet, Wood
2010s Turkish Modern Benches
Oak
1980s Swiss Vintage Modern Benches
Steel
2010s Turkish Modern Benches
Wood, Lacquer
2010s American Modern Benches
Walnut
2010s Balkan Modern Benches
Upholstery, Wood
2010s American Modern Benches
Leather, Wood
2010s Brazilian Modern Benches
Metal, Brass
2010s Spanish Modern Benches
Wood
2010s Austrian Modern Benches
Concrete, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Benches
Oak, Chestnut
2010s Spanish Modern Benches
Wood, Upholstery
2010s Spanish Modern Benches
Upholstery, Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Benches
Metal
1950s American Vintage Modern Benches
Steel
1970s Vintage Modern Benches
Driftwood
2010s American Modern Benches
Fabric, Cherry, Fir
2010s Spanish Modern Benches
Wood
2010s Balkan Modern Benches
Upholstery, Wood
1990s American Modern Benches
Stainless Steel