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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Dutch Modern Chairs
Steel
1990s American Modern Chairs
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel
2010s German Modern Chairs
Steel
2010s French Modern Chairs
Metal, Other
2010s Danish Modern Chairs
Concrete
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Chairs
Upholstery, Hardwood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Fabric
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Walnut
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Leather, Fiberglass
1950s Swedish Vintage Modern Chairs
Velvet, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Plastic
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Fiberglass
2010s American Modern Chairs
Maple
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Leather
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Onyx
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Plastic
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Velvet
2010s Danish Modern Chairs
Stainless Steel
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Bronze
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Chairs
Chrome
2010s Portuguese Modern Chairs
Bouclé, Upholstery, Wood
Mid-20th Century Modern Chairs
Velvet, Wood, Walnut
2010s Danish Modern Chairs
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Chairs
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Chairs
Wool, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Chairs
Plywood
2010s Portuguese Modern Chairs
Fabric, Oak
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Iron
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Fabric, Foam, Wood
1930s Finnish Vintage Modern Chairs
Birch
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Chairs
Wood
2010s French Modern Chairs
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Chairs
Wood
2010s French Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Fabric, Wood, Straw
2010s Spanish Modern Chairs
Other
1950s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Wood
2010s Turkish Modern Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Bronze
2010s American Modern Chairs
Wood, Hardwood, Oak
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Leather, Fiberglass
2010s Ukrainian Modern Chairs
Textile, Foam, Wood
2010s German Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Chairs
Glass, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Wood
2010s French Modern Chairs
Fabric, Foam, Plywood
2010s Chinese Modern Chairs
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Chairs
Steel, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Chairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Chairs
Steel