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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Late 20th Century French Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Foam
Mid-20th Century American Modern Lounge Chairs
Mohair
Late 20th Century Danish Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
1920s French Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood, Lacquer, Leather, Foam
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Walnut
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
20th Century Danish Modern Lounge Chairs
Ash
1970s French Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel, Chrome
1960s French Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Iron
1960s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
Late 20th Century English Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
1970s German Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Upholstery, Foam, Polystyrene
20th Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Wrought Iron
1990s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Wool, Wood
1960s French Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Alpaca, Oak
1950s Swedish Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Velvet, Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
20th Century Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Walnut, Upholstery
20th Century Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Bouclé
20th Century French Modern Lounge Chairs
Oak
1940s Finnish Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Birch
20th Century Austrian Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Beech
1950s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Walnut, Plywood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Wood
1980s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric
20th Century Canadian Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric
1930s Finnish Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Birch, Plywood
Mid-20th Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal, Brass
Mid-20th Century Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Concrete
1980s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
1930s Finnish Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Birch
Mid-20th Century American Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Oak
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
1960s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
1960s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum, Steel
1950s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
1980s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Mohair
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Wood
1950s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum, Steel
1950s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century German Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
1940s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
1980s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
1950s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
1960s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Lucite
1960s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel