Modern Dining Room 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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 European Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Lacquer
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Bouclé, Velvet, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
2010s Canadian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Maple
2010s Ukrainian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wool
2010s British Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal, Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Fabric, Bouclé, Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood, Beech, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Stainless Steel, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Bouclé, Velvet, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Velvet, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Bouclé, Oak, Fabric, Velvet, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Fabric, Bouclé, Velvet, Faux Fur
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Oak, Leather, Fabric, Bouclé, Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal, Brass, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Fabric, Velvet
2010s British Modern Dining Room Chairs
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Fabric, Bouclé, Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Bouclé, Velvet, Wood, Faux Fur
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Beech, Oak, Leather, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood, Bouclé
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
2010s Canadian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Hardwood
2010s English Modern Dining Room Chairs
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Bouclé, Velvet, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Fabric, Velvet, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Leather, Bouclé, Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Stainless Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Ash
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s Chinese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fiberglass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Rattan, Oak
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Indonesian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Teak
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s Dutch Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
2010s Dutch Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Upholstery, Wood
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Cane, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Bouclé, Velvet, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
20th Century Unknown Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Textile, Upholstery, Laminate, Hardwood
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Textile, Upholstery, Laminate, Hardwood
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Bouclé, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Beech