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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Austrian Modern Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Ash
1990s Belgian Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Fabric, Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Metal
1990s Italian Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Ukrainian Modern Chairs
Fabric, Wool, Bouclé
21st Century and Contemporary Ukrainian Modern Chairs
Fabric, Wool, Bouclé
1930s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Bouclé
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Ash, Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Chairs
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Chairs
Marble
1980s Philippine Vintage Modern Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Chairs
Marble, Brass, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Wood, Upholstery
2010s American Modern Chairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Chairs
Foam, Wood, Leather, Resin
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Metal
Early 20th Century European Modern Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Chairs
Plastic
1920s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel, Chrome
2010s Italian Modern Chairs
Fabric, Mohair, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Chairs
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Fur
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Plastic
2010s Turkish Modern Chairs
Aluminum
1920s French Vintage Modern Chairs
Steel, Chrome
2010s American Modern Chairs
Cherry
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Chairs
Leather
2010s American Modern Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chairs
Upholstery