Modern Sofas
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Sofas
Cotton, Walnut
1930s French Vintage Modern Sofas
Mahogany
1930s American Vintage Modern Sofas
Aluminum
1930s Danish Vintage Modern Sofas
Upholstery
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Sofas
Metal
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Sofas
Velvet, Beech
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Sofas
Fabric, Mahogany
1950s Danish Vintage Modern Sofas
Beech, Wool, Mahogany
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Sofas
Velvet
1940s Danish Vintage Modern Sofas
Leather, Mahogany
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Sofas
Brass
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Sofas
Velvet, Wood, Jacquard
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Sofas
Velvet, Beech
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Sofas
Fabric, Mahogany
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Sofas
Fabric, Walnut
1990s German Modern Sofas
Wool, Wood
1930s American Vintage Modern Sofas
Velvet
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Sofas
Mohair, Upholstery, Velvet, Walnut, Burl
1930s American Vintage Modern Sofas
Velvet
1930s European Vintage Modern Sofas
Wood
1930s Dutch Vintage Modern Sofas
Fabric, Upholstery, Wood
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Sofas
1930s French Vintage Modern Sofas
Leather, Wood
1930s English Vintage Modern Sofas
Leather