Modern Lounge Chairs
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood, Fabric, Foam
2010s Ukrainian Modern Lounge Chairs
Fur, Fabric, Bouclé, Faux Fur, Sheepskin, Wool, Velvet
Late 20th Century French Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood
Early 2000s French Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric
1960s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Naugahyde, Walnut
Early 2000s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
1980s Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
2010s Norwegian Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
1980s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
Early 2000s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
2010s Danish Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
Early 2000s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Brass
1960s Dutch Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal, Aluminum
Early 2000s European Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum, Steel
2010s Danish Modern Lounge Chairs
Cowhide, Wood
2010s Danish Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1950s German Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
1960s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
2010s European Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Foam
1950s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
1960s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Oak, Plywood, Fabric, Foam
1990s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
1960s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
1960s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum, Steel
1960s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
1950s German Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
1950s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
1950s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
2010s Ecuadorean Modern Lounge Chairs
Bronze, Steel, Stainless Steel
2010s Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Oak
1960s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
2010s German Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
2010s Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Bentwood
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Mid-20th Century German Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
2010s South African Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Oak
1950s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Walnut, Plywood
1940s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
1920s French Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Foam, Wood, Lacquer
1960s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric