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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1950s European Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal, Steel
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Birch
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
20th Century Swedish Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Lounge Chairs
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Lounge Chairs
Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Fabric, Foam, Wood, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Fabric
Early 2000s Finnish Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
1960s Norwegian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Beech, Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Belgian Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Lounge Chairs
Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric
1980s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Wicker
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Birch
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Lounge Chairs
Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Lounge Chairs
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
2010s Argentine Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood, Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Lounge Chairs
Foam
1930s Finnish Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Birch
1960s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Beech
1990s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
1990s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery
Mid-20th Century American Modern Lounge Chairs
Oak
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Beech, Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Brass
20th Century American Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Upholstery
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Brass
20th Century Nigerian Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Velvet, Wood, Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric
20th Century American Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
1980s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Lounge Chairs
Textile