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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Metal
2010s American Modern Club Chairs
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Beech, Leather
2010s Portuguese Modern Club Chairs
Brass
1980s American Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Upholstery, Wood, Ash
2010s American Modern Club Chairs
Canvas, Linen, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Modern Club Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Club Chairs
Leather
2010s American Modern Club Chairs
Birch, Maple, Lacquer
2010s Italian Modern Club Chairs
Iron
2010s American Modern Club Chairs
Metal
2010s American Modern Club Chairs
Maple, Sheepskin
2010s American Modern Club Chairs
Fabric, Mahogany
1940s Finnish Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Fabric, Birch
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Foam, Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Metal
1960s German Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Leather, Upholstery, Down
2010s Canadian Modern Club Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Leather, Foam, Beech
2010s Italian Modern Club Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Leather, Foam
2010s Italian Modern Club Chairs
Leather, Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Club Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Leather, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Leather, Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Club Chairs
Fabric, Linen
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Club Chairs
Aluminum
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Club Chairs
Upholstery
2010s Canadian Modern Club Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Club Chairs
Leather
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Metal
2010s Turkish Modern Club Chairs
Chrome
2010s Ukrainian Modern Club Chairs
Stainless Steel
2010s Canadian Modern Club Chairs
Steel
2010s Canadian Modern Club Chairs
Steel
2010s European Modern Club Chairs
Fabric, Wood
Mid-20th Century Modern Club Chairs
Linen
2010s Turkish Modern Club Chairs
Upholstery, Foam, Velvet
Late 19th Century Ukrainian Antique Modern Club Chairs
Steel
2010s Canadian Modern Club Chairs
Steel
2010s Portuguese Modern Club Chairs
Leather, Upholstery, Oak
2010s Italian Modern Club Chairs
Upholstery, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Club Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Taiwanese Modern Club Chairs
Steel
Late 19th Century Ukrainian Antique Modern Club Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Club Chairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Club Chairs
Foam
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Club Chairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Club Chairs
Upholstery
2010s Italian Modern Club Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Leather, Foam, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Club Chairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Foam, Beech, Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary North American Modern Club Chairs
Metal
2010s Dutch Modern Club Chairs
Leather