Modern 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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
2010s American Modern Chairs
Ash
20th Century French Modern Chairs
Fabric, Fiberglass
Late 20th Century American Modern Chairs
Steel, Chrome
Early 2000s Italian Modern Chairs
Chrome
Early 2000s American Modern Chairs
Aluminum, Chrome
2010s American Modern Chairs
Velvet
2010s American Modern Chairs
Steel
2010s American Modern Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Chairs
Fabric, Wood, Cherry
2010s American Modern Chairs
Fabric, Foam, Hardwood, Oak
2010s American Modern Chairs
Fabric, Foam, Hardwood, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Chairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century North American Modern Chairs
Leather
20th Century North American Modern Chairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Chairs
Fabric, Wood, Cherry
1980s American Vintage Modern Chairs
Plywood
Mid-20th Century American Modern Chairs
Aluminum
1960s American Vintage Modern Chairs
Aluminum
1940s American Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel, Chrome
2010s American Modern Chairs
Aluminum
20th Century American Modern Chairs
Metal
1950s American Vintage Modern Chairs
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Chairs
Steel, Chrome
1990s American Modern Chairs
Nylon, Wood
Early 2000s Modern Chairs
Stainless Steel
Mid-20th Century American Modern Chairs
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Modern Chairs
Leather
Mid-20th Century American Modern Chairs
Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Chairs
Leather, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Chrome
Late 20th Century American Modern Chairs
Fabric, Upholstery, Wood
1960s American Vintage Modern Chairs
Metallic Thread
1980s American Vintage Modern Chairs
Plywood
20th Century European Modern Chairs
Acrylic
1990s American Modern Chairs
Plastic, Maple
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Chrome
20th Century American Modern Chairs
Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Chairs
Maple
1980s American Vintage Modern Chairs
Chrome
1990s American Modern Chairs
Maple