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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 American Modern Armchairs
Cut Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Swedish Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Beech
1950s American Vintage Modern Armchairs
Steel
2010s Mexican Modern Armchairs
Leather, Hardwood
2010s Brazilian Modern Armchairs
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Leather, Fiberglass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Wood
2010s Spanish Modern Armchairs
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Armchairs
Cotton, Bamboo
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Armchairs
Leather
2010s Ukrainian Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Bouclé
Late 20th Century Austrian Modern Armchairs
Leather, Beech
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Armchairs
Chrome
2010s American Modern Armchairs
Steel
2010s English Modern Armchairs
Cork
2010s Mexican Modern Armchairs
Fabric
2010s American Modern Armchairs
Leather, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Armchairs
Brass
2010s American Modern Armchairs
Mohair
Early 2000s Italian Modern Armchairs
Iron
1990s Italian Modern Armchairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Fiberglass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Stainless Steel
2010s Mexican Modern Armchairs
Upholstery, Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Armchairs
Stainless Steel, Other
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Steel
1990s Italian Modern Armchairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Armchairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Textile
Early 2000s Italian Modern Armchairs
Plastic
1950s Danish Vintage Modern Armchairs
Upholstery, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Armchairs
Bouclé, Fabric
2010s Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Bouclé, Velvet
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Bouclé, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Plastic
2010s Mexican Modern Armchairs
Walnut, Machiche, Hardwood
2010s Mexican Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Cord, Rope
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Plywood, Canvas
2010s Spanish Modern Armchairs
Ash
2010s Brazilian Modern Armchairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Armchairs
Hide, Ash
1950s European Vintage Modern Armchairs
Metal, Steel
1980s American Vintage Modern Armchairs
Steel
2010s French Modern Armchairs
Bronze
2010s American Modern Armchairs
Brass
2010s American Modern Armchairs
Steel
1940s Finnish Vintage Modern Armchairs
Steel
2010s European Modern Armchairs
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Plastic
2010s American Modern Armchairs
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Other
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Armchairs
Velvet, Wood
2010s Spanish Modern Armchairs
Leather, Upholstery, Plywood
2010s American Modern Armchairs
Brass