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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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
Marble
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel
1990s German Modern Chairs
Wood
2010s French Modern Chairs
Fabric, Ash
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Wood
Early 2000s Italian Modern Chairs
Aluminum
20th Century German Modern Chairs
Aluminum
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Wood
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Velvet
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
2010s British Modern Chairs
Metallic Thread
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Steel
2010s Belgian Modern Chairs
Wood
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Wood, Textile
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Steel
Early 2000s Italian Modern Chairs
Plexiglass
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Steel
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Steel
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
PVC
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Chairs
Fabric, Wood
2010s British Modern Chairs
Steel
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
2010s Philippine Modern Chairs
Rattan
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Straw, Zebra Wood
1980s Spanish Vintage Modern Chairs
Aluminum
2010s Indian Modern Chairs
Leather, Cane, Rattan, Ash
2010s Portuguese Modern Chairs
Fabric, Lacquer, Walnut, Oak, Ash, Wood, Faux Leather, Upholstery, Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Faux Fur, Leather, Velvet, Bouclé, Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Leather, Korhogo Cloth, Velvet
1980s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
1980s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Modern Chairs
Copper, Pewter
1990s Italian Modern Chairs
Leather, Plywood
1980s Czech Vintage Modern Chairs
Iron
2010s French Modern Chairs
Fabric, Satin, Oak
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Onyx
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Brass, Stainless Steel, Nickel
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Chairs
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Brass, Iron, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Plastic
1980s Cameroonian Vintage Modern Chairs
Wood
Early 2000s Danish Modern Chairs
Leather, Oak
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Iron
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Bouclé
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Bouclé
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Straw, Wood