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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Italian Modern Armchairs
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Fiberglass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Metal, Brass, Bronze, Copper, Stainless Steel
2010s Chinese Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Leather, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
Early 2000s North American Modern Armchairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Gold Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
2010s American Modern Armchairs
Faux Fur
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Iron
2010s Egyptian Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Cane, Pine
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
2010s Spanish Modern Armchairs
Brass, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Wood
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Textile, Beech
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Wood
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Armchairs
Plywood
1950s European Vintage Modern Armchairs
Steel
2010s Australian Modern Armchairs
Leather, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Armchairs
Plywood
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Armchairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Foam, Beech, Plywood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Wood, Oak
2010s American Modern Armchairs
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
1960s Scottish Vintage Modern Armchairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Armchairs
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Brass, Metal