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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1990s German Modern Chairs
Wood
1980s Vintage Modern Chairs
Beech, Bentwood, Plywood
1990s Austrian Modern Chairs
Fabric, Silk, Wood
1990s Austrian Modern Chairs
Metal
1990s Austrian Modern Chairs
Fabric, Silk, Wood
1990s Austrian Modern Chairs
Metal
20th Century Austrian Modern Chairs
Plywood
1960s European Vintage Modern Chairs
Cane, Bentwood
Mid-20th Century Czech Modern Chairs
Cane, Bentwood
1930s Austrian Vintage Modern Chairs
Bentwood
1970s American Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
Mid-20th Century European Modern Chairs
Cane, Bentwood
1990s Swedish Modern Chairs
Polyester
Mid-20th Century Spanish Modern Chairs
Cane, Bentwood
1910s Austrian Vintage Modern Chairs
Bentwood
Mid-20th Century Czech Modern Chairs
Bentwood, Textile
Mid-20th Century North American Modern Chairs
Naugahyde, Wood, Bentwood
2010s Portuguese Modern Chairs
Metal
1970s North American Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
1960s American Vintage Modern Chairs
Upholstery, Lacquer, Wood, Polyester, Foam, Leather, Bentwood
Early 19th Century Czech Antique Modern Chairs
Wood
1930s Austrian Vintage Modern Chairs
Bentwood
20th Century European Modern Chairs
Chrome
1960s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel
1980s German Vintage Modern Chairs
Chrome
1960s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel
Late 20th Century German Modern Chairs
Plastic, Wood
1980s German Vintage Modern Chairs
Chrome
1980s German Vintage Modern Chairs
Chrome
Early 1900s Austrian Antique Modern Chairs
Bentwood
1990s British Modern Chairs
Aluminum