Modern Club 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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Fabric, Sapele Wood
1980s American Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Chrome
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Leather
1990s French Modern Club Chairs
Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Chrome
1990s American Modern Club Chairs
Leather, Wood
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Leather, Canvas
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Metal
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Modern Club Chairs
Upholstery
1950s Czech Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Upholstery, Beech
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Leather, Wood
1990s American Modern Club Chairs
Cotton, Rattan, Down
Mid-20th Century European Modern Club Chairs
Textile, Mahogany
Late 20th Century Modern Club Chairs
Upholstery, Rattan, Reed, Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Velvet
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Club Chairs
Chrome
1980s American Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Fabric
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Club Chairs
Chrome
1970s American Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Metal
1940s Dutch Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Wood, Oak
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Chrome
1990s Spanish Modern Club Chairs
Stainless Steel
Late 20th Century American Modern Club Chairs
Upholstery, Mahogany
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Leather, Mahogany
1980s American Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Brass
1990s French Modern Club Chairs
Bronze
Late 20th Century American Modern Club Chairs
Upholstery, Fiberglass
1930s Czech Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Metal
1960s Dutch Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Steel, Chrome
1930s Czech Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Chrome
Late 20th Century Modern Club Chairs
Upholstery, Leather
1940s Finnish Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Fabric, Birch
20th Century Dutch Modern Club Chairs
Steel
20th Century North American Modern Club Chairs
Chrome
1980s Swiss Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Leather
Late 20th Century American Modern Club Chairs
Chrome
Late 20th Century American Modern Club Chairs
Upholstery, Ash
1960s American Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Wool, Walnut
1980s American Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Faux Leather
Mid-20th Century American Modern Club Chairs
Faux Leather, Wood
Mid-20th Century American Modern Club Chairs
Aluminum
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Leather
1930s Austrian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Upholstery, Walnut
1990s Spanish Modern Club Chairs
Fabric, Beech, Plywood
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Rosewood, Leather
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Metal
1960s Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Rattan, Lacquer, Fabric
Late 20th Century American Modern Club Chairs
Velvet, Wood
Late 20th Century Canadian Modern Club Chairs
Upholstery
Late 20th Century Canadian Modern Club Chairs
Metal
1970s American Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Chrome
1970s Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Textile, Rattan, Lacquer
20th Century American Modern Club Chairs
Leather, Sheepskin
1940s French Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Sycamore