Modern Settees
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Danish Vintage Modern Settees
Upholstery, Beech, Birch
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Settees
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Settees
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Settees
Leather
2010s Argentine Modern Settees
Fabric, Wood
2010s Canadian Modern Settees
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Settees
Bronze
20th Century Modern Settees
Brass
2010s American Modern Settees
Fabric, Walnut
2010s American Modern Settees
Fabric, Walnut
2010s Italian Modern Settees
Steel
2010s American Modern Settees
Leather, Fabric, Wood
1990s Modern Settees
Leather
2010s Portuguese Modern Settees
Fabric, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Settees
Foam, Fabric
2010s American Modern Settees
Fabric, Walnut
2010s American Modern Settees
Textile
2010s American Modern Settees
Fabric, Walnut
1980s British Vintage Modern Settees
Cord
2010s British Modern Settees
Nylon
2010s Italian Modern Settees
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Settees
Leather, Foam
Late 20th Century European Modern Settees
Leather, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Settees
Fiberglass
2010s Italian Modern Settees
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Settees
Leather, Foam
2010s Portuguese Modern Settees
Foam, Wood, Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Settees
Brass, Metal
2010s Italian Modern Settees
Fiberglass
1990s American Modern Settees
Fabric, Wood
2010s Portuguese Modern Settees
Upholstery, Foam, Wood
2010s British Modern Settees
Nylon
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Settees
Leather
2010s American Modern Settees
Fabric, Walnut
2010s British Modern Settees
Nylon
2010s French Modern Settees
Steel
2010s Argentine Modern Settees
Aluminum
2010s Argentine Modern Settees
Aluminum
2010s Portuguese Modern Settees
Upholstery, Foam, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Settees
Walnut, Lacquer
2010s Portuguese Modern Settees
Upholstery, Foam, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Settees
Fiberglass
2010s French Modern Settees
Steel
2010s Portuguese Modern Settees
Upholstery, Foam, Wood
2010s Portuguese Modern Settees
Upholstery, Foam, Wood
2010s American Modern Settees
Sapele Wood, Cherry, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Settees
Metal
Mid-20th Century British Modern Settees
Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Settees
Foam, Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Settees
Fabric, Foam
2010s American Modern Settees
Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Settees
Foam, Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Settees
Fabric, Foam
2010s British Modern Settees
Nylon
2010s Italian Modern Settees
Fiberglass
2010s Italian Modern Settees
Fiberglass
2010s Italian Modern Settees
Fiberglass
2010s Italian Modern Settees
Fiberglass
2010s French Modern Settees
Steel