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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
1960s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood, Oak
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Bouclé, Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
2010s European Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Upholstery, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal, Brass, Stainless Steel, Steel
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Linen
1970s French Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Leather
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Cane, Maple
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Velvet, Bouclé, Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Stainless Steel, Metal
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric
1950s French Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric
1990s French Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Oak
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Maple
Late 20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Silver Leaf
2010s Chinese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Leather, Ash
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
2010s German Modern Dining Room Chairs
Oak
2010s Chinese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Ash
2010s French Modern Dining Room Chairs
Oak
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Maple
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Ebony
2010s Argentine Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Chrome
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Ukrainian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wool, Upholstery, Ash
Late 20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
2010s Chinese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Leather, Ash
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
2010s Mexican Modern Dining Room Chairs
Hardwood
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Cowhide, Velvet, Maple
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Stainless Steel
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Hardwood
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wicker, Rattan, Bamboo
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Rosewood, Paper
2010s Canadian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
2010s Canadian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Rattan, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood