Modern Lounge 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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Mahogany
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Bronze
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Oak
2010s Mexican Modern Lounge Chairs
Hardwood, Wicker
2010s Canadian Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Bouclé, Oak
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Mohair, Walnut
2010s Spanish Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Wicker, Walnut
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lounge Chairs
Iron
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Fiberglass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
1990s French Modern Lounge Chairs
Bronze
2010s South African Modern Lounge Chairs
Brass
1980s German Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel, Chrome
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Upholstery
2010s Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lounge Chairs
Bouclé
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Velvet, Walnut
2010s Finnish Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
2010s Finnish Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
2010s Finnish Modern Lounge Chairs
Fiberglass
2010s South African Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lounge Chairs
Brass
1980s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Fir, Upholstery, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Maple
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Brass
2010s Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
2010s Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
2010s English Modern Lounge Chairs
Cork
1950s Danish Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Alpaca, Beech
1970s Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Cotton
2010s Mexican Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
2010s Mexican Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Bronze
2010s Mexican Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
20th Century American Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
1950s American Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Walnut, Upholstery
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Bouclé
Mid-20th Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Teak
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
20th Century American Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Wood
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
Oak
2010s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Wood
1970s French Vintage Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel, Chrome