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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Ash, Plywood
1930s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel
1930s Finnish Vintage Modern Chairs
Birch
1930s Finnish Vintage Modern Chairs
Birch
1930s Finnish Vintage Modern Chairs
Birch
1930s Danish Vintage Modern Chairs
Leather, Mahogany
1930s Danish Vintage Modern Chairs
Leather, Mahogany
1930s Czech Vintage Modern Chairs
Wood
1930s Czech Vintage Modern Chairs
Wood
1930s European Vintage Modern Chairs
Pine
1930s Czech Vintage Modern Chairs
Fabric, Upholstery, Bentwood
1930s Dutch Vintage Modern Chairs
Chrome
1930s Austrian Vintage Modern Chairs
Beech
1930s Austrian Vintage Modern Chairs
Cherry
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Chairs
Canvas, Wood
1930s Finnish Vintage Modern Chairs
Birch
Early 2000s Finnish Modern Chairs
Birch
1940s Finnish Vintage Modern Chairs
Birch
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Modern Chairs
Wood
Mid-20th Century European Modern Chairs
Wood
Mid-20th Century Finnish Modern Chairs
Beech
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Chairs
Leather, Canvas, Ash
1930s Danish Vintage Modern Chairs
Brass
1930s Danish Vintage Modern Chairs
Brass
1950s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel
1930s Finnish Vintage Modern Chairs
Birch
1930s German Vintage Modern Chairs
Bouclé, Bentwood
1930s Austrian Vintage Modern Chairs
Bentwood
1930s Czech Vintage Modern Chairs
Fabric, Upholstery, Bentwood
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Brass
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Chairs
Cherry, Upholstery
1930s Czech Vintage Modern Chairs
Fabric, Upholstery, Bentwood
1930s Dutch Vintage Modern Chairs
Chrome
1930s Swedish Vintage Modern Chairs
Pine
1930s Czech Vintage Modern Chairs
Fabric, Hardwood, Bentwood
1930s Czech Vintage Modern Chairs
Fabric, Upholstery, Bentwood
1930s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Bentwood, Fabric, Upholstery
1930s Czech Vintage Modern Chairs
Fabric, Upholstery, Hardwood