Modern Armchairs
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Modern Armchairs
Walnut, Wenge
2010s Modern Armchairs
Leather
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Leather, Wood, Walnut
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Armchairs
Bouclé, Upholstery, Beech
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal
1990s European Modern Armchairs
Upholstery, Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Armchairs
Rattan, Wood
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Armchairs
Wood
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Armchairs
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Armchairs
Wood
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Armchairs
Leather, Beech
1930s Czech Vintage Modern Armchairs
Upholstery, Beech
1990s Italian Modern Armchairs
Beech, Ebony, Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Bouclé
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Armchairs
Velvet, Wood, Beech
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Armchairs
Bouclé, Wood, Beech
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Armchairs
Bouclé, Wood, Beech
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Armchairs
Bouclé, Wood
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Armchairs
Brass
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Wood
1990s Italian Modern Armchairs
Fabric
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Armchairs
Bouclé, Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Armchairs
Cotton, Wood, Beech
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Armchairs
Cotton, Wood, Beech
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Armchairs
Wood, Beech, Leather
1990s Italian Modern Armchairs
Leather, Teak
1990s Italian Modern Armchairs
Cotton, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Leather, Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Faux Leather