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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
2010s Italian Modern Stools
Wood
2010s Mexican Modern Stools
Upholstery, Wood, Ash
2010s Italian Modern Stools
Leather, Upholstery, Oak, Walnut, Plywood
2010s French Modern Stools
Other
2010s Spanish Modern Stools
Brass
2010s American Modern Stools
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Stools
Wool, Upholstery, Wood
2010s Austrian Modern Stools
Steel
2010s Danish Modern Stools
Copper
2010s German Modern Stools
Maple
2010s Mexican Modern Stools
Cedar
2010s Mexican Modern Stools
Wood, Oak, Leather
2010s Spanish Modern Stools
Iron
2010s Portuguese Modern Stools
Brass
2010s American Modern Stools
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Stools
Bronze
2010s American Modern Stools
Wool, Yarn, Acrylic, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Stools
Leather
2010s Italian Modern Stools
Wool, Upholstery, Oak, Walnut, Plywood
2010s German Modern Stools
Steel
2010s American Modern Stools
Marble
2010s Spanish Modern Stools
Bouclé, Wood
2010s American Modern Stools
Wool, Yarn, Acrylic, Wood
1950s French Vintage Modern Stools
Oak
2010s American Modern Stools
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Stools
Marble
1980s Vintage Modern Stools
Wrought Iron
2010s Italian Modern Stools
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Stools
Metal
2010s Modern Stools
Wood
2010s Belgian Modern Stools
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Stools
Wool, Upholstery, Beech
2010s Thai Modern Stools
Iron
2010s Brazilian Modern Stools
Metal, Brass
2010s English Modern Stools
Other
2010s Portuguese Modern Stools
Velvet
2010s German Modern Stools
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Stools
Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Polish Modern Stools
Wood
2010s Italian Modern Stools
Wool, Upholstery, Wood
2010s Danish Modern Stools
Linen
2010s Italian Modern Stools
Aluminum
2010s French Modern Stools
Fabric, Foam, Plywood
2010s Portuguese Modern Stools
Brass
2010s Belgian Modern Stools
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Modern Stools
Oak
2010s Spanish Modern Stools
Iron
2010s German Modern Stools
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Stools
Wood
2010s German Modern Stools
Steel
2010s Turkish Modern Stools
Fabric
2010s Italian Modern Stools
Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Stools
Steel
2010s French Modern Stools
Iron
2010s Italian Modern Stools
Plastic
2010s Spanish Modern Stools
Metal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Stools
Leather
2010s British Modern Stools
Aluminum
2010s Mexican Modern Stools
Ceramic, Fabric