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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Birch
2010s Dutch Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Walnut, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Velvet, Wood, Wool, Mohair, Bouclé, Chenille, Linen
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Textile, Upholstery, Laminate, Hardwood
2010s Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Textile, Cane, Wood, Hardwood
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Textile, Cane, Wood, Hardwood
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
Mid-20th Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Bouclé, Wood
2010s European Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Textile, Cane, Wood, Hardwood
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Textile, Cane, Wood, Hardwood
20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Textile, Cane, Wood, Hardwood
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Textile, Cane, Hardwood
2010s Dutch Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
2010s Spanish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Brass
2010s Ukrainian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wool, Fur, Faux Fur, Ash
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Hardwood, Leather, Cane
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Textile, Wood, Hardwood, Upholstery, Cane
21st Century and Contemporary Ukrainian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Velvet, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Velvet, Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Cane, Maple
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Velvet, Wood, Leather, Mohair, Bouclé, Linen
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Hardwood
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Upholstery, Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary North American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
2010s Dutch Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
2010s Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
2010s Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Oak, Fabric, Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
2010s Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Textile, Cane, Wood, Hardwood
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Textile, Upholstery, Fiberglass, Hardwood
2010s Austrian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wicker, Wood, Beech, Bentwood, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Oak, Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Dining Room Chairs
Oak
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
20th Century Chinese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Leather
1970s French Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Velvet, Wood, Leather, Mohair, Bouclé, Linen
Early 2000s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Rattan, Wood
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Oak
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Cane, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal