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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Mid-20th Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Goatskin, Wood
1980s Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather
Late 20th Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Birch
Late 20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Stainless Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Iron
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Velvet, Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Late 20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Cherry
20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Hardwood
1990s Belgian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1980s Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Birch
Late 20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Cane, Maple
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Acrylic, Fabric
1970s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
1990s Belgian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
Late 20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
1990s French Modern Dining Room Chairs
Bronze, Steel
Late 20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Chrome
1970s Czech Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Velvet, Walnut
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Textile, Wood
Late 20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
1970s Canadian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Velvet
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Textile, Wood
1970s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Pine
20th Century Spanish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plywood
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
1990s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1980s Swiss Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
Late 20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1970s French Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
Late 20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Beech
1990s Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
1950s French Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1970s Unknown Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Mahogany
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
1990s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1960s Mexican Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1990s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Mahogany
20th Century Swedish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
Late 20th Century British Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Hardwood
1940s Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
20th Century French Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic, Lucite, Upholstery
1980s German Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic, Beech