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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Velvet, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Ukrainian Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Chairs
Textile
2010s American Modern Chairs
Leather, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Chairs
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Fabric, Wood, Beech
2010s Portuguese Modern Chairs
Oak
2010s Ukrainian Modern Chairs
Fabric, Wool, Bouclé
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Bronze
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Cane, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Chairs
Textile
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Fabric, Wood, Walnut
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Wood
Early 2000s European Modern Chairs
Birch
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Chairs
Steel
2010s Danish Modern Chairs
Sheepskin, Wood
2010s Brazilian Modern Chairs
Upholstery, Cane, Fabric, Teak
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Chairs
Metal
2010s Ukrainian Modern Chairs
Fabric, Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Chairs
Fabric, Wood, Upholstery, Velvet
1980s American Vintage Modern Chairs
Beech, Lacquer
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Modern Chairs
Upholstery, Foam, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Chairs
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Brass
2010s American Modern Chairs
Resin, Foam
2010s American Modern Chairs
Wood
2010s Mexican Modern Chairs
Walnut
2010s Brazilian Modern Chairs
Upholstery, Teak
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Chairs
Steel
1950s Indian Vintage Modern Chairs
Teak, Cane
2010s Brazilian Modern Chairs
Leather, Textile, Upholstery, Fiberglass, Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Chairs
Wood, Leather, Canvas, Velvet, Polyester
2010s American Modern Chairs
Wicker, Teak
2010s American Modern Chairs
Fur, Alpaca, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Chairs
Fabric, Wood
2010s French Modern Chairs
Antler, Plywood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Chairs
Lucite, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Balinese Modern Chairs
Wood
2010s Brazilian Modern Chairs
Wood, Leather, Canvas, Velvet, Polyester
2010s Danish Modern Chairs
Wood, Sheepskin
2010s Ukrainian Modern Chairs
Fabric, Wool, Bouclé, Velvet
Early 1900s American Antique Modern Chairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century French Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Chairs
Wood, Faux Leather
2010s Brazilian Modern Chairs
Leather, Textile, Upholstery, Fiberglass, Hardwood
2010s French Modern Chairs
Fabric, Satin, Oak
20th Century French Modern Chairs
Metal, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Chairs
Textile
1960s Indian Vintage Modern Chairs
Upholstery, Cane, Teak
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Chairs
Steel
2010s French Modern Chairs
Oak, Fabric, Bouclé
2010s French Modern Chairs
Oak, Fabric
2010s Moroccan Modern Chairs
Fabric
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Steel
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Iron
1990s American Modern Chairs
Aluminum, Steel