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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
2010s Italian Modern Club Chairs
Wool, Upholstery, Wood, Oak
Early 2000s Italian Modern Club Chairs
Steel
1990s Spanish Modern Club Chairs
Fabric, Beech, Plywood
1970s American Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Club Chairs
Aluminum, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Club Chairs
Sheepskin, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Club Chairs
Aluminum, Steel
1990s Italian Modern Club Chairs
Leather, Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Club Chairs
Aluminum, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary North American Modern Club Chairs
Metal
2010s American Modern Club Chairs
Fabric, Polyester, Wood, Maple
Late 20th Century American Modern Club Chairs
Velvet, Wood
1980s Danish Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Club Chairs
Foam, Hardwood, Oak, Walnut, Down, Feathers
2010s Mexican Modern Club Chairs
Hardwood
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Metal
Late 20th Century Canadian Modern Club Chairs
Metal
2010s American Modern Club Chairs
Leather, Fabric, Wood
2010s American Modern Club Chairs
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Modern Club Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Club Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Club Chairs
Cement
2010s Australian Modern Club Chairs
Copper
1960s Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Rattan, Lacquer, Fabric
1970s Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Textile, Rattan, Lacquer
2010s American Modern Club Chairs
Fabric, Walnut
2010s Turkish Modern Club Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Leather, Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Club Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Club Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Club Chairs
Aluminum, Steel
2010s American Modern Club Chairs
Bouclé, Maple
2010s Portuguese Modern Club Chairs
Brass
Mid-20th Century Swedish Modern Club Chairs
Fabric, Birch
2010s American Modern Club Chairs
Velvet, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Club Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Club Chairs
Brass
1940s French Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Sycamore
2010s American Modern Club Chairs
Textile, Wood
1990s Italian Modern Club Chairs
Leather, Foam
2010s Philippine Modern Club Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Club Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Modern Club Chairs
Linen
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Club Chairs
Aluminum, Steel
2010s Portuguese Modern Club Chairs
Brass
1980s Danish Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Club Chairs
Aluminum, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Metal, Stainless Steel
20th Century North American Modern Club Chairs
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Modern Club Chairs
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Leather
Late 20th Century American Modern Club Chairs
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Club Chairs
Aluminum, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Modern Club Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Club Chairs
Fabric, Wood