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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Austrian Modern Armchairs
Beech
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Wood, Straw
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Brass, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
2010s American Modern Armchairs
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Velvet
1970s German Vintage Modern Armchairs
Suede
2010s French Modern Armchairs
Wood
1950s European Vintage Modern Armchairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Rubber
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Armchairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Armchairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Armchairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Gold Plate, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Armchairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Textile, Beech
Late 20th Century American Modern Armchairs
Leather, Beech
1980s American Vintage Modern Armchairs
Wood
20th Century American Modern Armchairs
Metal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Armchairs
Brass
1970s French Vintage Modern Armchairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Nutwood, Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
2010s Mexican Modern Armchairs
Oak
1930s Czech Vintage Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Upholstery, Bentwood
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Armchairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Armchairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Velvet
2010s Brazilian Modern Armchairs
Stainless Steel, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Iron
1990s Modern Armchairs
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Fabric
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Leather, Fabric, Wood
2010s Balkan Modern Armchairs
Cast Stone
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Beech, Leather, Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Armchairs
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Armchairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Wood, Leather
2010s European Modern Armchairs
Metal, Brass
2010s Chinese Modern Armchairs
Pine, Fabric