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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood, Walnut
1990s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Walnut
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
1990s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Beech
Mid-20th Century French Modern Dining Room Chairs
Pine, Straw
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
Early 2000s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Oak
Early 2000s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal, Aluminum
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Oak
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Velvet, Wood, Walnut, Plywood
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Pine
21st Century and Contemporary Taiwanese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Walnut
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century French Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Lacquer, Bouclé
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Faux Fur, Leather, Velvet, Bouclé, Fabric
1980s German Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Early 2000s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Harewood
15th Century and Earlier American Antique Modern Dining Room Chairs
Maple, Paint
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Ash
20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Hardwood
1940s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Birch
1970s Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
2010s Canadian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
2010s Mexican Modern Dining Room Chairs
Cotton, Hardwood, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal, Iron
2010s Mexican Modern Dining Room Chairs
Cotton, Walnut, Hardwood
2010s Mexican Modern Dining Room Chairs
Cotton, Walnut, Hardwood
2010s Mexican Modern Dining Room Chairs
Cotton, Hardwood, Walnut
Mid-20th Century French Modern Dining Room Chairs
Straw, Pine
Mid-20th Century French Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Cane, Maple
1970s French Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Elm
2010s Mexican Modern Dining Room Chairs
Cotton, Hardwood, Walnut
2010s North American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Bronze
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
1960s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Bouclé, Wood, Fabric
1970s Finnish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Birch
1960s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Fabric, Wood
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Faux Leather, Wood
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal, Chrome
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Early 2000s Czech Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Bentwood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s British Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal, Bronze
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Teak
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Velvet, Wood
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Oak, Walnut
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Velvet
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Velvet, Wood, Walnut, Plywood
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Upholstery, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Chrome