Modern Dining Room 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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1960s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Oak, Beech, Velvet, Bouclé, Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Fabric, Bouclé, Velvet
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Chrome
2010s Dutch Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
2010s Swiss Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1980s German Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1990s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Plywood
1990s Danish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood
1990s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
2010s Swiss Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic, Oak
1940s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1940s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Walnut
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s Turkish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
1940s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Chrome
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
1950s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1950s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
2010s Mexican Modern Dining Room Chairs
Hardwood, Pine
1990s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Maple
2010s Swiss Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome, Steel
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Plastic, Foam, Plywood
1960s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1990s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome, Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome, Steel
1960s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Stainless Steel
2010s Balkan Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
1930s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Textile, Wood
1920s Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Chrome
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Mahogany
1970s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Stainless Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Oak
2010s Balkan Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
2010s Swiss Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood
Late 20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Mohair
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Stainless Steel
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1950s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Walnut
2010s Swiss Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic, Fabric
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1950s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal