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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Italian Modern Chairs
Steel
1980s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
2010s American Modern Chairs
Steel
2010s American Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Crystal
2010s American Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Modern Chairs
Brass
2010s Austrian Modern Chairs
Carbon Fiber
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Crystal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Fabric, Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Stainless Steel
2010s Modern Chairs
Wood, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Metal, Brass, Steel, Stainless Steel
2010s American Modern Chairs
Mohair
2010s Ukrainian Modern Chairs
Textile, Foam, Plywood, Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Plastic
2010s American Modern Chairs
Upholstery
2010s Brazilian Modern Chairs
Leather, Textile, Upholstery, Fiberglass, Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Modern Chairs
Horn, Upholstery, Foam
2010s Portuguese Modern Chairs
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Leather, Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Beech, Wood, Foam, Fabric, Leather
2010s German Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Leather, Fabric, Bouclé, Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Chairs
Oak
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Fabric, Oak
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Leather, Fabric, Faux Leather, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Aluminum
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Brass
Early 2000s Danish Modern Chairs
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Velvet, Rubber, Bentwood, Plywood
2010s Danish Modern Chairs
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Chairs
Wood
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Chairs
Steel, Chrome
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal, Sheet Metal
2010s Portuguese Modern Chairs
Metal, Brass
2010s Argentine Modern Chairs
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Chairs
Fabric, Cotton
1970s German Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal, Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Fabric, Plastic
2010s Austrian Modern Chairs
Resin, Linen, Foam, Lacquer
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Plastic
2010s Portuguese Modern Chairs
Metal
Late 20th Century North American Modern Chairs
Plastic
2010s Portuguese Modern Chairs
Stainless Steel
2010s Austrian Modern Chairs
Concrete
2010s Ukrainian Modern Chairs
Metal
2010s Modern Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Chairs
Wood