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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Modern Chairs
Leather, Oak
2010s French Modern Chairs
Fabric, Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Aluminum
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
Late 20th Century American Modern Chairs
Metal, Chrome
1990s Italian Modern Chairs
Fabric, Wood
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Upholstery, Velvet, Wood
1950s American Vintage Modern Chairs
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Metal
2010s American Modern Chairs
Mohair
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Modern Chairs
Iron
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Fiberglass
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Metal
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Upholstery, Velvet, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Chairs
Steel
Early 2000s French Modern Chairs
Crystal, Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Modern Chairs
Upholstery, Foam, Beech
2010s Turkish Modern Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
1970s Vintage Modern Chairs
Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Steel
2010s Lithuanian Modern Chairs
Stainless Steel
2010s Portuguese Modern Chairs
Fabric, Lacquer, Walnut, Oak, Ash, Wood, Faux Leather, Upholstery, Wool
2010s French Modern Chairs
Fabric, Satin, Oak
2010s Austrian Modern Chairs
Concrete, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Modern Chairs
Iron
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Wood
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Velvet, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Metal
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Upholstery, Velvet, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Chairs
Steel
2010s Portuguese Modern Chairs
Walnut
2010s Danish Modern Chairs
Leather, Walnut
2010s Turkish Modern Chairs
Cotton, Acrylic
1980s American Vintage Modern Chairs
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Velvet, Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Steel
2010s Mexican Modern Chairs
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Steel
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Bouclé, Wood
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Upholstery, Velvet, Wood
2010s American Modern Chairs
Fabric, Acrylic, Foam, Lucite, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Leather, Fabric, Faux Leather, Wood
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Upholstery, Velvet, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Brass, Stainless Steel, Nickel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Plastic
2010s Dutch Modern Chairs
Velvet
2010s Portuguese Modern Chairs
Walnut
2010s French Modern Chairs
Fabric, Ash
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Upholstery, Velvet, Wood