The architect and designer Marcel Breuer was one the 20th century’s most influential and innovative adherents of modernism. A member of the Bauhaus faculty, Breuer — like such colleagues as the architects Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and the artists and art theoreticians László Moholy-Nagy and Josef Albers — left Europe in the 1930s to champion the new design philosophy and its practice in the United States.
Born in Hungary, Breuer became a Bauhaus student in 1920 and quickly impressed Gropius, the German school’s founder, with his aptitude for furniture design. His early work was influenced by the minimalist Dutch design movement De Stijl — in particular the work of architect Gerrit Rietveld.
In 1925, while he was head of the Bauhaus furniture workshop, Breuer realized his signature innovation: the use of lightweight tubular-steel frames for chairs, tables and sofas — a technique soon adopted by Mies and others. Breuer’s attention gradually shifted from design to architecture, and, at the urging of Gropius, he joined his mentor in 1937 on the faculty of Harvard and in an architectural practice.
In the 1940s, Breuer opened his own architectural office, and there his style evolved from geometric, glass-walled structures toward a kind of hybrid architecture — seen in numerous Breuer houses in New England — that pairs bases of local fieldstone with sleek, wood-framed modernist upper floors. In his later, larger commissions, Breuer worked chiefly with reinforced concrete and stone, as seen in his best-known design, the brutalist inverted ziggurat built in New York in 1966 as the home of the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Breuer’s most famous furniture pieces are those made of tubular steel, which include the Wassily chair — named after Wassily Kandinsky and recognizable for its leather-strap seating supports — and the caned Cesca chair.
Breuer also made several notable designs in molded plywood, including a chaise and nesting table for the British firm Isokon and a student furniture suite commissioned in 1938 for a dormitory at Bryn Mawr College. Whether in metal or wood, Breuer’s design objects are elegant and adaptable examples of classic modernist design — useful and appropriate in any environment.
Find vintage Marcel Breuer seating, storage cabinets and lighting on 1stDibs.
H 33.47 in W 18.12 in D 20.87 in
Dining Chairs Style B32 by Marcel Breuer Set of 4
By Marcel Breuer
Located in bruxelles, BE
Set of 4 chairs in metal, wood and rattan. Dimensions: seat height: 46 cm. Wear due to time and age of the chairs. FOR SHIPPING, REQUEST US FOR RECEIVE THE BEST PRICE
Metal
H 32.68 in W 18.12 in D 20.48 in
Dining Chairs Style B32 by Marcel Breuer Set of 4
By Marcel Breuer
Located in bruxelles, BE
Set of 4 chairs in metal, wood and rattan. Dimensions: seat height: 47 cm. Wear due to time and age of the chairs. FOR SHIPPING, REQUEST US FOR RECEIVE THE BEST PRICE
Metal
H 31.5 in W 18.51 in D 21.26 in
Marcel Breuer B32 Cesca Dining Room Chairs for Gavina Knoll, 1963, Set of 4
By Gavina, Marcel Breuer
Located in Vicenza, IT
Beautiful set of 4 original B32 “Cesca” dining chairs produced by Gavina in 1963. They are all signed with the original paper mark. Cesca chairs were originally designed in 1928 by F...
Chrome, Iron
H 30.71 in W 18.12 in D 21.66 in
Set of 4 Cesca chairs by Marcel Breuer for Gavina - 1960s
By Marcel Breuer
Located in Uccle, Bruxelles
Magnificent set of four original Cesca chairs designed by Marcel Breuer for Gavina in the 1960s. A design icon, these beautiful chairs feature a chromed tubular steel frame supporti...
Chrome
H 30.71 in W 18.51 in D 23.63 in
Bauhaus B33 Dining Chairs by Marcel Breuer for Gavina, Italy 60s, Set of 4
By Marcel Breuer
Located in Lucija, SI
Set of 4 chairs B33 designed by Marcel Breuer in dark brown leather. Produced by Gavina in the 60s. They are in good vintage condition with minor traces of age, as visible on photos.
Steel, Chrome
H 31.5 in W 21.26 in D 21.26 in
Marcel Breuer B64 Cesca Dining Room Arm Chair for Gavina Knoll, 1968, Set of 4
By Gavina, Marcel Breuer
Located in Vicenza, IT
Beautiful set of 4 original B64 “Cesca” dining chairs produced by Gavina in 1968. Cesca chairs were originally designed in 1928 by French Hungarian architect Marcel Breuer and named ...
Chrome, Iron
H 30.71 in W 18.51 in D 23.63 in
Bauhaus B33 Dining Chairs by Marcel Breuer for Gavina, Italy 60s, Set of 4
By Marcel Breuer
Located in Lucija, SI
Set of 4 chairs B33 designed by Marcel Breuer in dark brown leather. Produced by Gavina in the 60s. They are in good vintage condition with minor traces of age, as visible on photos.
Steel, Chrome
H 32 in W 22.5 in D 18 in
Pair of 4 Marcel Breuer B64 Design Cesca Chairs by Gavina, circa 1960
By Marcel Breuer
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Pair of 4 Chairs, model Cesca, designed by Marcel Breuer. Manufactured in Italy around 1960 by Gavina manufacturer. Metal pipe frame, wood seat and back structure and rattan. In good...
Metal
H 31.5 in W 23.5 in D 23.5 in
Set of 4 1960's Marcel Breuer Cesca chairs with arms, Stendig labels
By Marcel Breuer
Located in Chicago, IL
Set of 4 Original Marcel Breuer "Cesca" arm chairs 1960's With "Stendig" manufacturer labels. Breuer first designed this chair in 1928. Originally known as the B32, the chair’s revelatory use of material and simple form made it an international sensation—nothing like it existed at the time. In the early-1960s, the Modern Italian furniture manufacturer Gavina Group acquired the rights to the design. The company’s founder and owner, Dino Gavina, decided to rename the chair “the Cesca...
Cane
H 78 in W 47 in D 50 in
Dining Chairs Style B32 by Marcel Breuer, Set of 4
By Gavina, Marcel Breuer
Located in Argelato, BO
Set of 4 dining chairs Style B32 by Marcel Breuer, in metal, wood and rattan.
Metal
Cesca Dining Chairs by Marcel Breuer, Chrome & Rattan, 1960s Italy
By Marcel Breuer
Located in Byron Bay, NSW
The chairs showcase a cantilevered design, a signature element of Marcel Breuer’s work, giving a floating appearance without traditional legs. Named after Breuer’s daughter Francesca...
Chrome
Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe MR10 Dining Chairs for Knoll International
By Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Knoll
Located in Byron Bay, NSW
These iconic MR10 dining chairs designed by Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe and manufactured by Knoll International are cherished for their sleek design, high quality of metal work and ove...
Chrome
Set of Seven Calla Dining Chairs by Antonio Ari Colombo for Arflex 1970s
By Arflex, Antonio Ari Colombo
Located in Byron Bay, NSW
Set of seven “Calla” dining chairs by Italian designer Antonio Ari Colombo, manufactured by Arflex Italy, 1970s. A stunning set of eight “Calla” dining chairs designed by Antonio Ar...
Chrome
S33 Marcel Breuer Brown Leather & Chrome Set of Six Chairs
By Marcel Breuer
Located in Byron Bay, NSW
The "B34" chair, designed by Marcel Breuer, is a significant piece of modernist furniture. Marcel Breuer, a Hungarian-born architect and designer, was associated with the Bauhaus sch...
Chrome
Model Elisa Dining Chairs by Giovanni Battista Bassi for Poltronova, 1964
By Giovanni Bassi
Located in Byron Bay, NSW
9 dining chairs set designed by Giovanni Battista Bassi for Poltronova in 1960s. "Elisa" is a set of dining chairs designed by Giovanni Battista Bassi for the Italian furniture comp...
Faux Leather, Wood
Set of Four Mid-Century Modern Dining Chairs by Pirela Atelier, 1960s
Located in Byron Bay, NSW
These set of four French dining chairs by Pirela Atelier, crafted in the 1960s, is a unique and stylish collection of furniture. The chairs are crafted ...
Enamel
