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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Early 20th Century European Modern Chairs
Wood
1920s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Chrome
1920s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel, Chrome
1920s Spanish Vintage Modern Chairs
Wood
1920s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel
1920s Swedish Vintage Modern Chairs
Velvet, Oak
1920s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel
1920s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel, Chrome
1920s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel
1920s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel, Chrome
Early 20th Century Ivorian Modern Chairs
Wood
1920s Belgian Vintage Modern Chairs
Fabric, Oak
1920s Dutch Vintage Modern Chairs
Belgian Black Marble
Early 20th Century Danish Modern Chairs
Fabric, Beech
Early 20th Century Danish Modern Chairs
Fabric, Beech
Early 20th Century Swedish Modern Chairs
Early 20th Century Swedish Modern Chairs
Upholstery, Birch, Lacquer
Early 20th Century Italian Modern Chairs
Wood
Late 20th Century American Modern Chairs
Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Chairs
Fabric, Lacquer
1950s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel
1920s Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel, Chrome
1950s American Vintage Modern Chairs
Chrome, Steel
Early 20th Century Modern Chairs
Upholstery
Late 20th Century American Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Modern Chairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century Modern Chairs
Wood
1930s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Velvet
Early 1900s Italian Antique Modern Chairs
Copper
1920s American Vintage Modern Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1920s German Vintage Modern Chairs
Leather
Early 20th Century Modern Chairs
Wood
Early 20th Century European Modern Chairs
Softwood
Early 20th Century Dutch Modern Chairs
Steel
Early 20th Century Dutch Modern Chairs
Steel
1920s Dutch Vintage Modern Chairs
Belgian Black Marble
Early 20th Century Swedish Modern Chairs
Fur
Early 20th Century English Modern Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
Early 20th Century English Modern Chairs
Oak
Early 20th Century Modern Chairs
Wood