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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Early 2000s American Modern Club Chairs
Fiberglass, Rubber
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Leather, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Metal
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Leather, Mahogany
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Club Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Club Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Club Chairs
Leather
1980s Swiss Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Club Chairs
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Club Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Club Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Club Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Steel, Chrome
1990s French Modern Club Chairs
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Metal, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Fiberglass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Foam, Beech, Plywood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Foam, Resin
1960s American Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Wool, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Aluminum
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Club Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Foam, Beech, Plywood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Resin, Fiberglass, Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Fabric, Plywood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Plywood, Foam, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Foam, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Foam, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Resin, Fiberglass, Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Foam, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Club Chairs
Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Resin, Foam
2010s European Modern Club Chairs
Bronze, Stainless Steel
2010s American Modern Club Chairs
Upholstery, Foam, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Resin, Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Metal, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Foam, Beech, Poplar
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Beech, Poplar, Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Club Chairs
Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Club Chairs
Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Club Chairs
Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Club Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Club Chairs
Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Club Chairs
Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Club Chairs
Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Club Chairs
Foam