Modern Rocking 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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Israeli Modern Rocking Chairs
Acrylic, Polyester, Teak
2010s Israeli Modern Rocking Chairs
Polyester, Teak, Acrylic
2010s Israeli Modern Rocking Chairs
Acrylic, Polyester, Teak
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Rocking Chairs
Leather
1990s American Modern Rocking Chairs
Leather
2010s Modern Rocking Chairs
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Rocking Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Rocking Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Rocking Chairs
Plastic
2010s Finnish Modern Rocking Chairs
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Rocking Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Rocking Chairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Rocking Chairs
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Rocking Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Rocking Chairs
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Rocking Chairs
Resin
2010s American Modern Rocking Chairs
Cut Steel
2010s South African Modern Rocking Chairs
Steel
2010s Spanish Modern Rocking Chairs
Wrought Iron
2010s South African Modern Rocking Chairs
Steel
2010s South African Modern Rocking Chairs
Steel
2010s Modern Rocking Chairs
Steel
2010s South African Modern Rocking Chairs
Steel
2010s South African Modern Rocking Chairs
Steel
2010s Modern Rocking Chairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century Costa Rican Modern Rocking Chairs
Wood, Leather
2010s South African Modern Rocking Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Modern Rocking Chairs
Glass
2010s Modern Rocking Chairs
Steel
20th Century Mexican Modern Rocking Chairs
Iron
1960s European Vintage Modern Rocking Chairs
Leather, Fiberglass
Early 20th Century Austrian Modern Rocking Chairs
Wicker