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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Velvet, Wood
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
1950s European Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal, Steel
1950s European Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal, Steel
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Mohair, Upholstery, Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Fiberglass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Velvet, Wood
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Wood
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel, Wrought Iron
Early 2000s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Fiberglass, Rubber
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Walnut
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Velvet, Wood
1950s Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Beech
2010s Canadian Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
1990s French Modern Lounge Chairs
Bronze
1990s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Sheepskin, Walnut
1950s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
1970s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
Mid-20th Century French Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
1980s Swiss Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
Early 2000s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1960s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Wool, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Ash, Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Pine
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
2010s Canadian Modern Lounge Chairs
Oak
2010s Canadian Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Bronze