Modern Seating
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Seating
Fabric, Velvet, Wood, Lacquer
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Seating
Textile
2010s Italian Modern Seating
Leather
2010s Portuguese Modern Seating
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Seating
Textile
2010s Ukrainian Modern Seating
Fabric, Bouclé
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Seating
Aluminum
2010s American Modern Seating
Wood, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Seating
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Seating
Textile
2010s Italian Modern Seating
Wool, Upholstery, Wood, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Seating
Steel
2010s American Modern Seating
Oak
2010s American Modern Seating
Maple
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Seating
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Seating
Plywood, Leather, Foam, Rubber, Down
2010s Portuguese Modern Seating
Velvet, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Seating
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Ukrainian Modern Seating
Foam, Fabric, Plywood
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Seating
Steel
2010s Brazilian Modern Seating
Fabric, Upholstery, Hardwood
2010s American Modern Seating
Upholstery
2010s Brazilian Modern Seating
Leather, Textile, Upholstery, Fiberglass, Hardwood
2010s Danish Modern Seating
Sheepskin, Wood
2010s Ukrainian Modern Seating
Aluminum
2010s Mexican Modern Seating
Hardwood, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Seating
Velvet, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Seating
Fabric, Oak, Wood, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Seating
Upholstery, Velvet, Hardwood, Maple
21st Century and Contemporary Ukrainian Modern Seating
Fabric, Wool, Foam, Wood, Plywood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Seating
Velvet, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Modern Seating
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Seating
Velvet, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Seating
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Seating
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Seating
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Seating
Wool, Bouclé, Walnut
2010s American Modern Seating
Upholstery, Wood, Oak, Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Seating
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Seating
Steel
2010s Portuguese Modern Seating
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Seating
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Seating
Upholstery
2010s American Modern Seating
Wood, Teak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Seating
Fabric, Walnut, Oak, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Seating
Wool, Bouclé, Cotton, Oak
2010s Brazilian Modern Seating
Leather, Textile, Upholstery, Fiberglass, Hardwood
2010s Ukrainian Modern Seating
Fabric, Bouclé
2010s Italian Modern Seating
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Ukrainian Modern Seating
Fabric, Plywood
2010s American Modern Seating
Leather, Cherry
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Seating
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Seating
Velvet, Wood, Wool, Mohair, Bouclé, Chenille, Linen
2010s Canadian Modern Seating
Fabric, Walnut
2010s Italian Modern Seating
Leather, Fabric, Wood
2010s American Modern Seating
Cut Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Seating
Fabric, Wood, Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Seating
Aluminum
Modern seating for sale on 1stDibs.
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