Modern Benches
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Benches
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Benches
Velvet
2010s Portuguese Modern Benches
Metal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Benches
Bronze
20th Century Belgian Modern Benches
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Benches
Fir
2010s Italian Modern Benches
Leather, Wood
2010s American Modern Benches
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Benches
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Benches
Wood
Late 20th Century North American Modern Benches
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Benches
Wood
20th Century French Modern Benches
Wood
2010s Chinese Modern Benches
Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Benches
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Benches
Fabric, Velvet, Lacquer, Wood
Early 2000s French Modern Benches
Fabric
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Benches
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Benches
Leather, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Benches
Leather, Wood, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Benches
Velvet, Wood, Ebony
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Benches
Velvet, Ebony, Wood
1920s Vintage Modern Benches
Bouclé
2010s Italian Modern Benches
Plastic
20th Century American Modern Benches
Chrome
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Benches
Metal
1980s North American Vintage Modern Benches
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Benches
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Benches
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Steel
20th Century Modern Benches
Lucite, Velvet