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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1990s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric
20th Century European Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric
1990s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal, Steel
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lounge Chairs
Rope, Hardwood
2010s South African Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel, Brass
Late 20th Century American Modern Lounge Chairs
Brocade
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Resin, Foam, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Hardwood, Upholstery, Wool
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lounge Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Lacquer
2010s South African Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
2010s South African Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
Late 20th Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric
2010s Turkish Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Early 2000s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery
2010s Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
2010s Belgian Modern Lounge Chairs
Granite
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery
2010s Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Bouclé, Faux Fur, Oak
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Lounge Chairs
Lambskin, Mahogany
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Brass
2010s Dutch Modern Lounge Chairs
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Plastic
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Upholstery, Wood
20th Century Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Belgian Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Resin
2010s Chinese Modern Lounge Chairs
Fiberglass, Lacquer
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
2010s Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
2010s Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood, Fabric, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary North American Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
2010s Spanish Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
2010s Finnish Modern Lounge Chairs
Fiberglass
2010s Finnish Modern Lounge Chairs
Fiberglass
2010s Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
Early 2000s Modern Lounge Chairs
Iron
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
2010s Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel