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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
1990s Dutch Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1920s Dutch Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Oak
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Rattan, Wood, Wicker
Mid-20th Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Linen, Wood
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
20th Century French Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1950s French Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Bentwood
20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Walnut
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
1980s British Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
1990s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome, Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Glass, Lucite
Late 20th Century North American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Teak
Late 20th Century Canadian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Stainless Steel
Late 20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
1970s French Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Beech
20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1980s Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Beech, Plywood, Plastic
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood
Late 20th Century North American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
20th Century New Zealand Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
1940s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Upholstery, Wood, Trimming, Cherry
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Rosewood
Late 20th Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
1970s French Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
1960s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
1990s Swiss Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
Early 20th Century French Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
1940s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Upholstery
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
Late 20th Century French Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1950s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Iron
1980s North American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
1990s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Faux Leather, Oak
Early 20th Century French Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Giltwood
20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fruitwood
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
Late 20th Century English Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Hardwood, Leather
1970s French Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
1980s German Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Late 20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Beech
Late 20th Century American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Mahogany
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal, Chrome
1990s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Chrome
20th Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wicker, Wood