Modern Stools
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1990s American Modern Stools
Metal
1980s American Vintage Modern Stools
Aluminum, Steel
1980s Danish Vintage Modern Stools
Aluminum, Chrome
1960s American Vintage Modern Stools
Metal
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Stools
Metal, Brass
Late 20th Century French Modern Stools
Oak
1950s French Vintage Modern Stools
Steel
1990s European Modern Stools
Aluminum
20th Century Modern Stools
Leather, Acrylic
1990s Modern Stools
Chrome
1940s French Vintage Modern Stools
Brass
1950s French Vintage Modern Stools
Hardwood
20th Century French Modern Stools
Wood
20th Century American Modern Stools
Aluminum
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Stools
Metal
1950s French Vintage Modern Stools
Steel
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Stools
Brass
1870s French Antique Modern Stools
Metal
1970s American Vintage Modern Stools
Pine, Upholstery
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Stools
Plastic
1960s French Vintage Modern Stools
Rush, Pine
1990s Italian Modern Stools
Aluminum
1940s French Vintage Modern Stools
Hardwood
1990s American Modern Stools
Iron
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Stools
Steel, Chrome
20th Century Modern Stools
Metal
1980s French Vintage Modern Stools
Aluminum
Late 20th Century Modern Stools
Lucite, Oak
Mid-20th Century French Modern Stools
Stainless Steel
1970s British Vintage Modern Stools
Metal
1980s American Vintage Modern Stools
Fabric, Wood
1990s British Modern Stools
Fiberglass
Late 20th Century English Modern Stools
Plastic
1970s Vintage Modern Stools
Steel, Chrome
1960s American Vintage Modern Stools
Bouclé, Elm
1980s American Vintage Modern Stools
Abalone, Fabric, Wool, Wood
Mid-20th Century French Modern Stools
Aluminum, Brass
Late 20th Century Modern Stools
Chrome
1990s Modern Stools
Chrome
Late 20th Century American Modern Stools
Steel
20th Century French Modern Stools
Leather, Wood
1970s Austrian Vintage Modern Stools
Cane, Bentwood
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Stools
Aluminum
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Stools
Steel
1950s French Vintage Modern Stools
Mahogany
1960s French Vintage Modern Stools
Mahogany
20th Century Modern Stools
Chrome
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Stools
Metal
1990s Spanish Modern Stools
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century American Modern Stools
Leather
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Stools
Chrome
1970s Vintage Modern Stools
Fabric, Hardwood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Stools
Brass, Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Stools
Brass
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Stools
Fabric, Walnut
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Stools
Metal
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Stools
Leather, Oak
1940s Vintage Modern Stools
Wood, Oak