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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Mid-20th Century Swiss Modern Chairs
Concrete
1970s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Textile, Oak
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Velvet
Early 2000s Italian Modern Chairs
Animal Skin
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Chairs
Steel
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Upholstery, Velvet, Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Metal
1980s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Metal, Brass, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Steel
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Textile, Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Brass
2010s Portuguese Modern Chairs
Stainless Steel
1980s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
Early 2000s Italian Modern Chairs
Leather
1950s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Wood
Mid-20th Century French Modern Chairs
Pine, Straw
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Fabric, Foam, Wood
1980s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
1980s German Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Brass, Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Wood, Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Leather, Oak, Beech, Velvet, Bouclé, Fabric
1960s Dutch Vintage Modern Chairs
Copper
Late 20th Century European Modern Chairs
Steel
2010s Portuguese Modern Chairs
Stainless Steel
1960s American Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Metal, Brass
1920s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Leather, Wood, Beech, Oak
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Leather, Wood
1920s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Leather, Oak, Beech, Velvet, Bouclé, Fabric
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Wood
1960s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
2010s Portuguese Modern Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
2010s Belgian Modern Chairs
Steel
2010s German Modern Chairs
Steel
2010s French Modern Chairs
Ash, Oak
2010s Belgian Modern Chairs
Walnut
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Velvet
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Chairs
Metal
2010s Dutch Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Resin
2010s Dutch Modern Chairs
Plastic
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Upholstery, Velvet, Wood
2010s Dutch Modern Chairs
Steel
2010s French Modern Chairs
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Chairs
Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Resin
20th Century German Modern Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Chairs
Velvet