Modern Daybeds
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Early 2000s Italian Modern Daybeds
Chrome
1960s American Vintage Modern Daybeds
Metal, Bronze
1950s Dutch Vintage Modern Daybeds
Metal
1960s Dutch Vintage Modern Daybeds
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Daybeds
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Daybeds
Fabric
20th Century American Modern Daybeds
Velvet, Raffia, Rattan
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Daybeds
Fabric
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Modern Daybeds
Cowhide, Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Daybeds
Steel
1970s Dutch Vintage Modern Daybeds
Wool, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Daybeds
Fiberglass
2010s American Modern Daybeds
Upholstery
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Daybeds
Leather, Fabric
Early 2000s Italian Modern Daybeds
Steel
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Daybeds
Aluminum, Steel
20th Century Italian Modern Daybeds
Aluminum, Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Daybeds
Aluminum, Steel
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Daybeds
Steel