Modern Swivel Chairs
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Swivel Chairs
Metal, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Swivel Chairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Swivel Chairs
Steel
2010s British Modern Swivel Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Swivel Chairs
Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Swivel Chairs
Linen
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Swivel Chairs
Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Swivel Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Swivel Chairs
Fabric, Straw, Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Swivel Chairs
Hardwood
1970s American Vintage Modern Swivel Chairs
Chrome
Late 20th Century American Modern Swivel Chairs
Fabric, Wood
Mid-20th Century American Modern Swivel Chairs
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Swivel Chairs
Aluminum
1970s Vintage Modern Swivel Chairs
Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Swivel Chairs
Chrome
2010s Modern Swivel Chairs
Metal, Iron
1960s Swiss Vintage Modern Swivel Chairs
Chrome
Late 20th Century French Modern Swivel Chairs
Polyester
1970s American Vintage Modern Swivel Chairs
Brass