Modern Armchairs
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 French Modern Armchairs
Metal
2010s Philippine Modern Armchairs
Steel
2010s Indian Modern Armchairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Armchairs
Leather
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Fabric
2010s Philippine Modern Armchairs
Steel
2010s French Modern Armchairs
Leather, Beech
2010s Belgian Modern Armchairs
Walnut
2010s Spanish Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Beech
2010s Brazilian Modern Armchairs
Stainless Steel
Early 2000s American Modern Armchairs
Steel
2010s Dutch Modern Armchairs
Brass
2010s Swiss Modern Armchairs
Aluminum
2010s Brazilian Modern Armchairs
Stainless Steel
1940s American Vintage Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Birch, Oak
2010s Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Upholstery, Oak
2010s Greek Modern Armchairs
Olive
2010s Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Oak
2010s Spanish Modern Armchairs
Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Wool, Upholstery, Wood
2010s Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Upholstery, Oak
2010s Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Velvet
2010s Egyptian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Textile, Upholstery
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Armchairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Japanese Modern Armchairs
Leather, Oak
2010s Spanish Modern Armchairs
Aluminum
2010s Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Leather, Upholstery, Oak
2010s German Modern Armchairs
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Wool, Upholstery, Wood
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Armchairs
Velvet
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Armchairs
Velvet
2010s Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Upholstery, Oak
2010s Spanish Modern Armchairs
Aluminum
2010s Philippine Modern Armchairs
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Wool, Upholstery, Wood
2010s Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Upholstery, Oak
2010s Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Oak
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Wool, Upholstery, Wood
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Armchairs
Iron
2010s Spanish Modern Armchairs
Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery, Beech
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Wool, Upholstery, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery, Beech
2010s German Modern Armchairs
Steel
2010s Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Upholstery, Walnut
2010s Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Upholstery, Walnut
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Wool, Upholstery, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Wool, Upholstery, Wood
2010s French Modern Armchairs
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Wool, Upholstery, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Upholstery, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Fabric
2010s Spanish Modern Armchairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Armchairs
Metal, Chrome
2010s French Modern Armchairs
Other
2010s Spanish Modern Armchairs
Aluminum
2010s Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Upholstery, Walnut
2010s Philippine Modern Armchairs
Steel





