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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Velvet, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Velvet, Wood, Walnut, Plywood
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Upholstery, Wood
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Bouclé, Wood, Wool
Mid-20th Century French Modern Dining Room Chairs
Straw, Pine
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Walnut
1940s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Oak
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Cane, Maple
1960s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
1990s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Plywood
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Chrome
1950s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Walnut, Fabric, Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wool, Bouclé, Wood
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1960s Swiss Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Lacquer, Cane
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Leather
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery
2010s Argentine Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood
2010s German Modern Dining Room Chairs
Walnut
1990s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Oak, Bentwood
20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Zebra Wood
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Teak
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Velvet
2010s French Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wool, Oak
2010s Canadian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Teak
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
2010s Canadian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
2010s Dutch Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
2010s Dutch Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal, Brass, Stainless Steel
Mid-20th Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Teak
1950s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1920s French Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Chrome
Mid-20th Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Velvet, Wood
1970s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Bouclé, Wood
Early 2000s Danish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Foam, Oak, Lacquer
Late 20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
20th Century English Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Chrome
1940s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Maple
1970s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s South African Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
1960s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Oak
2010s Turkish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass