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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
1950s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Walnut, Fabric, Foam
1930s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Textile, Wood
1960s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
1970s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1990s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1950s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1990s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome, Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1950s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1940s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Maple
1940s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Birch
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1970s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome, Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Paint, Lacquer, Wood, Foam, Upholstery, Leather
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Cord
1950s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Oak
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Beech, Lacquer
Late 20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Mohair
Mid-20th Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Velvet, Wood
1940s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
1970s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Oak
1970s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome, Steel
1950s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Walnut
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1960s Dutch Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Teak
20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Beech
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1980s Spanish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Maple
1980s Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1970s Dutch Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1920s French Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Chrome
Late 20th Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Hardwood
20th Century European Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
1920s Dutch Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Oak
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Birch
Early 20th Century European Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Chrome
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Chrome
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1920s Dutch Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Oak
1990s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1990s Belgian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1990s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
1990s French Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome, Nickel
1920s French Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Chrome
1970s Dutch Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal, Stainless Steel
Late 20th Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal