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Modern Chairs

MODERN STYLE

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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 chaircrafted 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.

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Style: Modern
Color:  Green
Iola Armrest Chair in Black Ashwood Base and Foam Seat, by E-ggs
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Iola chair comes with a seat, back and armrests in a injected flameretardant polyurethane foam covered with the listed fabrics. The structure base is available for custom orders in w...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Upholstery, Wood

Emeco Alfi Low Back Chair with Aluminum Frame by Jasper Morrison
Located in Hanover, PA
Emeco and Jasper Morrison together, designed and engineered the Alfi Collection with the conviction that what you don't see is as important as what you do see. Made of reclaimed mate...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Chairs

Materials

Aluminum

Ali Armrest Chair in Beech Walnut Base with Seat, by Philippe Tabet
By Miniforms, Philippe Tabet
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Chair with solid beech legs stained oak, walnut or black aniline. Shell upholstered in the listed fabrics. Here you are shown the Ali armrest chair in beech stained walnut base with ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Wood, Upholstery

Diplopia Armchair in Marsala Red Lacquer, Metal Frame, by Skrivo Design
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Here you are shown the Diplopia armchair with the Lacquered Red Marsala metal frame and upholstery. The armchair is available for custom orders with a metal frame lacquered in white,...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Metal

Botera High Chair in Upholstery, by E-GGS
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Botera High chair is padded with four different types of foam, following the chair's design focus of comfort. A chunky cushion forms the base from which the high or low backrest is d...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Upholstery

Mula Chair in Black Metal Leg Base with Upholstery Seat, by E-GGs
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Mula chair is offered with iron rebar metal base, varnished in black. The seat and back are made with an injected flame-retardant polyurethane foam, upholstered in the listed fabrics. The body is packed separately from the base. Here you are shown the Mula Chair in Black Metal Base with Upholstery Seat. This item is also available in a swivel office chair option. Formed by Gaia Giotti, Giona Scarselli and Cristina Razzanelli, E-GGS deals with design with a transversal approach, ranging between product design, interior and architecture. Attention and curiosity are captured by the discovery of the unusual in everyday life, in the search for new expressive and material languages. Additional information: Dimensions: Seat height 46.7 cm, overall chair height 78 cm, width of chair 57...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Metal

Jasper Morrison Hi Pad Chair in Beech Plywood & Fabric or Leather for Cappellini
Located in New York, NY
The Hi pad chair, and accompanying Hi pad stool, are the result of a production process that represents the perfect balance between technology and artisan...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Foam, Beech, Plywood

Valerie Armchair with Coral Seat and Wood Base, by Giopato & Coombes
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This Valerie armchair is available in an upholstered Kvadrat - Coral Steelcut Trio cushion, with a solid wood structure. Here you are offered wooden finishes in Stained Aniline, Oak, Canaletto Walnut, Beech or Lacquered. The Valerie Chair is also available as a stool or without armrests, or in additional seating upholstery's. If you are interested in a height that is not offered with this listing, please contact the dealer for further information.tructure available with or without seat-cushion, upholstered in the listed fabrics. Here you are shown the Valerie chair in oak with upholstered seat. Cristiana Giopato...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Wool, Oak

Pelleossa Armchair in Beech & Upholstered Seat, by Francesco Faccin
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This Pellerossa armrest chair is shown here in beechwood, and with nine upholstery seating fabrics to select from. The upholstery options include leather, vegetable leather or Sponge fabric. The Pellerossa's chair structure is also available in Canaletto walnut, oak or solid black aniline wood, as well as without an armrests, and in stool form. If you are interested in the Pelleossa chair...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Upholstery, Beech

Jasper Morrison Tate Stool in Beech Plywood with Matte Lacquer for Cappellini
Located in New York, NY
Easy to stack – to a maximum of 6 pieces – the Tate chair designed by Jasper Morrison is part of a range that includes chairs and stools. This series has a ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Beech, Plywood

21st Century Agaxa Stool in Metal and Leather Layers by CTRLZAK
Located in Cantù, Lombardia
"The creative power of man and the beauty of nature: a binomial in constant search of balance, finding its perfect expression in Agaxa. The multiple layers of leather covering the me...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Metal

Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH Jannis Lounge Chair in Foam with Green Upholstery
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Dainelli Studio, owned by the creative duo of Leonardo and Marzia Dainelli, designs JANNIS, a collection of upholstered furniture that are eminently suitable for contract use. Two...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Chairs

Materials

Wood

Ghidini 1961 Katana Lounge Chair in Fabric and Satin Brass by Paolo Rizzatto
Located in Villa Carcina, IT
In the Katana sofa, Paolo Rizzatto, being the refined and expert designer he is, puts great care in the proportions of the structural elements of the produ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Fabric

Opinion Ciatti Mammamia High Chair
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Mammamia high chair with die-cast aluminium shell, steel structure and rubber-covered footrest. Lacquered, not for outdoor use. Non stackable. Available in gold structure with white,...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Lightweight Mustard Upholstered Dining Side Chair Set of 2
Located in Origgio (VA), IT
X chair is born from the iconic symbol of the "x", a characteristic element of the design of the back of the chair with which no other line interferes. The goal of the Slovenian desi...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Plastic

Emeco Alfi High Back Chair with Aluminum Frame by Jasper Morrison
Located in Hanover, PA
Emeco and Jasper Morrison together, designed and engineered the Alfi Collection with the conviction that what you don't see is as important as what you do see. Made of reclaimed mate...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Chairs

Materials

Aluminum

Jasper Morrison Lotus High Chair in Polished Chrome for Cappellini
Located in New York, NY
The Lotus (High), by Jasper Morrison, is part of a complete collection of chairs, envisioned to be easily adaptable for both domestic and variegated professional settings. Available ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Metal

Studio Cappellini Normal Chair with Leather Upholstery for Cappellini
Located in New York, NY
A successful blend between rigour and Romanticism. In this chair, the precision of the design is accompanied by a captivating aesthetic flair. The Normal chair has a frame without ar...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Metal

Diverge Stool in Ash Structure, Upholstered Seat, by Skrivo Design
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This stool in wooden ash structure, stained black, anthracite or walnut. Seat upholstered in the listed fabrics. Here you are shown the Diverge stool in wooden ash structure with uph...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Ash, Upholstery

GUFRAM Mozza Stool & Chair by Giuseppe Raimondi
Located in La Morra, Cuneo
Designed in 1968 by Giuseppe Raimondi, Mozza maintains the same vibrant revolutionary appeal and ability to adapt to countless living needs. Rendered in its present edition in a sexier and slimmer form, Mozza is an upturned truncated and athwart-cut cone on which it would seem impossible to sit. By lying back on its sloping surface of sort polyurethane, though, its structure gives in to body weight until it acquires the shape of a chair with back- and armrests. It's simple but original structural magic that makes it one of a kind. Mozza's external mass misleads you. Thanks to its lightness, this seat becomes a nomadic and versatile object in the living landscape. The primary seat for the sitting-room at home or the perfect service armchair in the sophisticated and elegant halls of design hotels, Mozza combines the international contemporary style with the characters of the Italian radical design, highlighted by the variety of its contemporary and pop upholstery colours. ABSTRACT Designed in 1968 by Giuseppe Raimondi, Mozza is an upturned truncated and athwart-cut cone on which it would seem impossible to sit. By lying back on its sloping surface of sort polyurethane, though, its structure gives in to body weight until it acquires the shape of a chair with back- and armrests. It's simple but original structural magic that makes it one of a kind. Mozza's external mass misleads you. Thanks to its lightness, this seat becomes a nomadic and versatile object in the living landscape. TECHICAL INFO Seat of soft polyurethane covered with cloth. Ø 85x80 cm, 9 Kg Ø 33,5x31,5 in, 20 lb DID YOU KNOW 1. It's one of the first projects by Gufram – born at the beginning of its activity. 2. It was designed by the first Artistic Director of the brand – Giuseppe Raimondi. 3. Mozza's sloping plane becomes soft when weight is set on it, and it allows you to comfortably sink in it. 4. Mozzo de-constructs the traditional...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Fabric, Resin

Secreto Armchair in Beechwood Emerald Green Velvet Upholstery, Made in Italy
Located in Milan, Lombardy
Secreto is a little armchair to use with dining table or in a living room, modern and traditional at the same time. Inspired to the traditional Windsor chair with a clear brief brill...
Category

2010s Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Velvet, Beech

Opinion Ciatti Mammamia Sled Non Stackable Chair with Armrests
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Mammamia Sled has non-stackable steel sled base with armrests. For indoor use only. Available in gold structure with option of fabric or leather upholstery.
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Metal

Thin Check Table in Contemporary Powder Coated Steel in White, Yellow, and Green
Located in Brooklyn, NY
For their debut outdoor furniture collection Kin & Company, in collaboration with renowned textile designer Dusen Dusen, has created the Thin Check Table a...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Chairs

Materials

Steel

Mula Chair in Stained Black Ash Base, Upholstery Seat, by E-GGs
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Mula chair is offered with black stained wooden ash base with seat and back in injected flame-retardant polyurethane foam upholstered in the listed fabrics. The body is packed separately from the base. The leg base finish is also available in a natural ash finish, anthracite metal or ash, black metal, and copper metal. If you are interested in one of the previously listed bases. Formed by Gaia Giotti, Giona Scarselli and Cristina Razzanelli, E-GGS deals with design with a transversal approach, ranging between product design, interior and architecture. Attention and curiosity are captured by the discovery of the unusual in everyday life, in the search for new expressive and material languages. Additional information: Dimensions: Seat height 46.7 cm, overall chair height 78 cm, width of chair 57...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Upholstery, Wood

GUFRAM Detecma Lounge in Green by Tullio Regge
Located in La Morra, Cuneo
Detecma is an acronym for design, technique and mathematics. These three values were united for the first time in 1967, the year when the Physicist Professor Tullio Regge, renown as ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Fabric, Resin

Opinion Ciatti Mammamia Non Stackable Chair with Armrests
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Mammamia chair with armrest, made with die-cast aluminum shell and steel structure. For indoor use. Non-stackable. Available in gold structure with whit...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Metal

Cappellini Newood Relax Light Armchair in Beech & Ashwood by Brogliato Traverso
Located in New York, NY
The Newood Relax Light chair, by BrogliatoTraverso, is an elegant interpretation of the Newood chair, but this version is lighter due to the elimination of the eight rods that charac...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Ash, Beech, Foam

Emeco Alfi High Back Chair with Black Powder Coated Aluminum Frame by Jasper
Located in Hanover, PA
Emeco and Jasper Morrison together, designed and engineered the Alfi Collection with the conviction that what you don't see is as important as what you do see. Made of reclaimed mate...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Chairs

Materials

Aluminum

Ghidini 1961 Katana Lounge Chair in Leather & Polished Brass by Paolo Rizzatto
Located in Villa Carcina, IT
In the Katana sofa, Paolo Rizzatto, being the refined and expert designer he is, puts great care in the proportions of the structural elements of the produ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs

Materials

Leather

Dining chairs by Giancarlo Piretti for Castelli, Italy 1980s
Located in Denventer, NL
Designer chairs, type DSC Axis 106, designed in the 1960s by Giancarlo Piretti for Castelli, Italy. The 10 chairs have green plastic upholstery, aluminum frame, steel legs with gray ...
Category

1980s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs

Materials

Aluminum

Baby Molar Chair in Lime Green Plastic by Wendell Castle, 1971
Located in New York, NY
Baby Molar chair in gel-coated, fiberglass-reinforced plastic. Designed and made by Wendell Castle, Rochester, New York, 1969.
Category

1960s American Vintage Modern Chairs

Materials

Plastic

Modern chairs for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique Modern chairs for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage chairs created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include seating, building and garden elements, more furniture and collectibles and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with wood, fabric and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Modern chairs made in a specific country, there are Europe, Italy, and Scandinavia pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original chairs, popular names associated with this style include Finn Juhl, Jover + Valls, Emeco, and Kartell. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for chairs differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $25 and tops out at $103,950 while the average work can sell for $2,723.

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