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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 American Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Bouclé, Faux Fur, Oak
2010s Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Resin, Foam, Wood
2010s Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal, Chrome
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
2010s Spanish Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Foam
2010s Canadian Modern Lounge Chairs
Walnut, Hardwood, Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Beech
2010s Belgian Modern Lounge Chairs
Granite
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
2010s Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
1990s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Wood, Silk
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood, Fabric, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Foam, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Oak, Bouclé
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Oak, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Oak, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Cedar
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Lacquer, Leather, Wenge, Wood, Faux Leather
1980s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Brass
2010s Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood, Ash
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Fabric, Wood
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary North American Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
2010s Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood, Oak, Plywood
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Pine, Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Gold, Gold Plate
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Late 20th Century British Modern Lounge Chairs
Textile, Velvet
2010s Brazilian Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Brass, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
2010s Modern Lounge Chairs
Bentwood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Late 20th Century American Modern Lounge Chairs
Linen, Upholstery, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Plastic
1990s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Mohair, Oak
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Wicker, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Brass, Stainless Steel