Modern Chaise Longues
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Mid-20th Century American Modern Chaise Longues
Chenille, Upholstery
1950s American Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Aluminum
1960s Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Fabric, Rattan
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Steel
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Chaise Longues
Metal
1930s French Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Iron
1950s Danish Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Rosewood
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Chaise Longues
Metal
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Velvet, Hardwood
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Iron
20th Century Modern Chaise Longues
Leather
1990s Swedish Modern Chaise Longues
Wicker, Rattan
1960s American Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Hide, Alpaca, Upholstery, Walnut
Mid-19th Century American Antique Modern Chaise Longues
Fabric, Rattan
20th Century American Modern Chaise Longues
Upholstery, Bamboo, Rattan
2010s American Modern Chaise Longues
Upholstery
1990s American Modern Chaise Longues
Upholstery, Maple
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Chrome
20th Century American Modern Chaise Longues
Metal
1960s French Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Iron
1960s European Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Cowhide
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Rattan
1960s French Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Fabric
1930s French Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Wicker, Rattan
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Fabric, Birch, Plywood
1960s European Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Cowhide
1940s American Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Mahogany
1960s German Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Metal
1930s American Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Bronze
1940s American Vintage Modern Chaise Longues
Iron
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Chaise Longues
Aluminum