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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood, Chenille, Beech
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Walnut, Fabric, Teak
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Stainless Steel
Early 20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood, Beech, Oak, Mohair, Bouclé, Linen, Velvet, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1970s French Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Dining Room Chairs
Ash
2010s Spanish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Hardwood
2010s Spanish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Stainless Steel
2010s Mexican Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Oak, Papercord
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Ukrainian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wool, Ash
2010s Canadian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1990s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood, Bentwood
2010s Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood, Upholstery
1980s Japanese Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
2010s Danish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
1990s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Ash
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Bouclé
2010s Ukrainian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fur, Fabric, Wool, Faux Fur, Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Fabric, Faux Leather, Walnut
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Sheepskin, Cane, Wood, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Stainless Steel
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
2010s Canadian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
2010s Spanish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
20th Century North American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood, Burl
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
2010s Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1970s Polish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Naugahyde, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Fabric, Velvet
2010s European Modern Dining Room Chairs
Stainless Steel
2010s North American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Boxwood, Oak
1950s Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Rush, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Rope, Wood
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Plastic, Foam, Plywood
21st Century and Contemporary Ukrainian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s Canadian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Ash
1970s French Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
2010s European Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Velvet
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Sheepskin, Wood, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Teak, Fabric, Linen, Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Lacquer
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood, Mohair, Bouclé, Linen, Velvet
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Teak, Fabric, Upholstery
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Textile, Upholstery, Fiberglass, Hardwood