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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Goatskin, Upholstery, Wood, Lacquer
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Fabric, Wood
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Upholstery
1970s Vintage Modern Benches
Driftwood
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Leather, Upholstery, Velvet
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Benches
Wood
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Metal, Brass
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Iron
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Upholstery, Wood
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Lucite
1970s Swiss Vintage Modern Benches
Leather
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Bronze, Enamel
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Leather
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Benches
Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Brass
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Chrome
1980s American Vintage Modern Benches
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Benches
Brass
2010s Canadian Modern Benches
Oak
1970s Vintage Modern Benches
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Benches
Wood
Late 20th Century North American Modern Benches
Upholstery
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Chenille
1970s North American Vintage Modern Benches
Brass
20th Century American Modern Benches
Leather
1980s American Vintage Modern Benches
Upholstery
20th Century American Modern Benches
Upholstery
1980s Vintage Modern Benches
Upholstery
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Benches
Slate
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Brass
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Cane, Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Benches
Sandstone, Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Benches
Metal, Brass
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Benches
Brass, Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Nickel
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Chrome
1970s British Vintage Modern Benches
Linen, Wood
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Lucite
1970s American Vintage Modern Benches
Lucite