Modern Lounge Chairs
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Balkan Modern Lounge Chairs
Textile, Wool, Upholstery, Wood, Ash, Oak, Walnut
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Fiberglass
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
2010s Ecuadorean Modern Lounge Chairs
Bronze, Steel, Stainless Steel
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood, Fabric
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
1960s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
2010s Mexican Modern Lounge Chairs
Wicker, Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Brass
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel, Chrome
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
1980s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Bouclé, Wood, Walnut
2010s Japanese Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Fiberglass
Early 2000s Danish Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
1950s Danish Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
2010s Balkan Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
Early 2000s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Plastic
2010s Mexican Modern Lounge Chairs
Hardwood, Pine
1960s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Lucite
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Early 2000s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
Early 2000s Danish Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
2010s Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Brass
1990s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Plastic, Fiberglass
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood, Cedar
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Beech, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Mirror
Early 2000s Danish Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
Early 2000s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
2010s Danish Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
Early 2000s Danish Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
2010s Polish Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
Early 2000s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
1960s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
Early 2000s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Walnut
1990s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
2010s South African Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Oak, Leather
Early 2000s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Fabric
1950s Danish Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Oak
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1950s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum