The architect and designer Marcel Breuer was one the 20th century’s most influential and innovative adherents of modernism. A member of the Bauhaus faculty, Breuer — like such colleagues as the architects Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and the artists and art theoreticians László Moholy-Nagy and Josef Albers — left Europe in the 1930s to champion the new design philosophy and its practice in the United States.
Born in Hungary, Breuer became a Bauhaus student in 1920 and quickly impressed Gropius, the German school’s founder, with his aptitude for furniture design. His early work was influenced by the minimalist Dutch design movement De Stijl — in particular the work of architect Gerrit Rietveld.
In 1925, while he was head of the Bauhaus furniture workshop, Breuer realized his signature innovation: the use of lightweight tubular-steel frames for chairs, tables and sofas — a technique soon adopted by Mies and others. Breuer’s attention gradually shifted from design to architecture, and, at the urging of Gropius, he joined his mentor in 1937 on the faculty of Harvard and in an architectural practice.
In the 1940s, Breuer opened his own architectural office, and there his style evolved from geometric, glass-walled structures toward a kind of hybrid architecture — seen in numerous Breuer houses in New England — that pairs bases of local fieldstone with sleek, wood-framed modernist upper floors. In his later, larger commissions, Breuer worked chiefly with reinforced concrete and stone, as seen in his best-known design, the brutalist inverted ziggurat built in New York in 1966 as the home of the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Breuer’s most famous furniture pieces are those made of tubular steel, which include the Wassily chair — named after Wassily Kandinsky and recognizable for its leather-strap seating supports — and the caned Cesca chair.
Breuer also made several notable designs in molded plywood, including a chaise and nesting table for the British firm Isokon and a student furniture suite commissioned in 1938 for a dormitory at Bryn Mawr College. Whether in metal or wood, Breuer’s design objects are elegant and adaptable examples of classic modernist design — useful and appropriate in any environment.
Find vintage Marcel Breuer seating, storage cabinets and lighting on 1stDibs.
1930s Lacquered Bar Console Table in the Style of Marcel Breuer
By Marcel Breuer
Located in New York, NY
Original 1930s black lacquered table with tubular metal legs in the style of Marcel Breuer. Has a variety of uses, console, bar, small desk or vanity.
Aluminum
$8,826
H 23.63 in W 31.5 in D 16.15 in
Mid Century "B12" Side Console Table by Marcel Breuer Produced by Thonet, 1930s
By Marcel Breuer, Thonet
Located in Stockholm, SE
Very rare and early example of the "B12" mid century side console table in black stained wood with chromed tubular steel base by Marcel Breuer produced by Thonet, 1930s. In good orig...
Chrome
$1,460
H 23.63 in W 23.63 in D 15.75 in
Bauhaus tubular steel side table model B 12 by Marcel Breuer, 1930s
By Slezak Company, Marcel Breuer
Located in PRAHA 5, CZ
An early example of the Bauhaus side table, Model B 12, originally designed by Marcel Breuer in 1928 and manufactured around 1930 under Thonet licence by Robert Slezák in former Czec...
Steel, Chrome
$9,414
H 27.17 in W 33.86 in D 17.72 in
Mid Century "B21" Wooden Desk / Side Table by Marcel Breuer for Thonet, 1930s
By Marcel Breuer
Located in Stockholm, SE
Very rare and early mid century Bauhaus "B21" desk / side table in black stained wood with chromed tubular steel base by Marcel Breuer produced by Thonet in Germany, 1930s. In good o...
Metal
$10,002
H 27.17 in W 33.86 in D 17.72 in
Early Bauhaus "B21" Side Table Desk by Marcel Breuer Produced by Thonet, 1930s
By Marcel Breuer, Thonet
Located in Stockholm, SE
Very rare and early Bauhaus "B21" desk / side table in black stained wood with chromed tubular steel base by Marcel Breuer produced by Thonet in Germany, 1930s. In good original cond...
Steel
Bauhaus Tubular Steel Side Table B 12 by Marcel Breuer, 1930s
By Mücke & Melder, Marcel Breuer
Located in PRAHA 5, CZ
Originally designed by Marcel Breuer and catalogued as model B 12, this elegant Bauhaus side table stands as a hallmark of rational design. Manufactured in the 1930s by Mücke & Melde...
Steel, Chrome
$1,471
H 18 in W 21.5 in D 19 in
Marcel Breuer, Laccio Side Table Black Laminated Top with Tubular Chromed Base
By Marcel Breuer
Located in Aramits, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Marcel Breuer 'Laccio' modern side table, the top in black laminate with an MDF core and mounted on a chromed tubular steel frame. The table dates probably from the 1970s or 1980s. ...
Steel
$2,700 / item
H 27.56 in W 27.56 in D 17.72 in
Bauhaus Tubular Steel Wood Console Table, Model B12 by Marcel Breuer for Thonet
By Thonet, Marcel Breuer
Located in Almelo, NL
Bauhaus Tubular Steel and Wood Console Table, Model B12 by Marcel Breuer for Thonet, Prague, 1930s 2 available – priced per table Dimensions: H 70 cm x W 70 cm x D 45 cm A timeless...
Steel
Marcel Breuer Bauhaus side table B12 - Thonet
By Thonet, Marcel Breuer
Located in The Hague, NL
Rare Marcel Breuer Bauhaus side table B12 - Thonet. It's a family piece and it is marked -as you can see in the pictures- so the authenticity is guaranteed. A timeless design icon, which blends in many different interior styles. It has oxidation on the chrome plated steel and it is painted black. The construction still is really good. This is an outstanding opportunity to become the happy owner of an authentic Marcel Breuer B12...
Steel
Bauhaus console table B 12 by Marcel Breuer
By Marcel Breuer
Located in PRAHA 5, CZ
A rare and iconic 1930s B12 console or side table, designed by Marcel Breuer in 1928. Made from tubular steel and wood, the B12's distinctive feature is its asymmetrical design, with...
Steel, Chrome
