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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Armchairs
Metal, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Armchairs
Metal, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Wool, Mohair, Bouclé, Wood, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Velvet, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Armchairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Armchairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Armchairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Armchairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Armchairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Wood, Leather
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Armchairs
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Armchairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Armchairs
Wood, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Armchairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Armchairs
Wood, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Armchairs
Wood, Oak
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Cotton
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Brass
2010s Spanish Modern Armchairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Brass
2010s Spanish Modern Armchairs
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Armchairs
Walnut, Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Foam, Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Armchairs
Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Armchairs
Velvet, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Leather, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Leather, Wood
2010s European Modern Armchairs
Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Brass
2010s European Modern Armchairs
Bouclé, Rattan, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal
2010s European Modern Armchairs
Cotton
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Armchairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Bouclé
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Chenille, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Bouclé
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Upholstery
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Velvet
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Bouclé
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Bouclé
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Bouclé
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Bouclé
2010s Mexican Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Leather
2010s Mexican Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Leather
20th Century Italian Modern Armchairs
Wood
2010s Mexican Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Wood
2010s European Modern Armchairs
Metal
2010s European Modern Armchairs
Metal