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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Balkan Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
1940s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Birch
2010s Balkan Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
1940s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
1990s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
Early 2000s Danish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Beech, Lacquer
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Straw, Wood
1950s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1940s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s Swiss Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Plastic
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Oak
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
1950s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Walnut
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1970s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
2010s Swiss Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
2010s Dutch Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s Swiss Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic, Fabric
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1970s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Oak
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Acrylic, Fabric
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
2010s South African Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
2010s Chinese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Stainless Steel
1960s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
1960s Dutch Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Teak
2010s German Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Oak
Early 2000s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
1970s Canadian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
2010s Canadian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood, Walnut
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s Dutch Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Fabric, Faux Leather
2010s Pakistani Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Walnut, Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Fabric, Faux Leather
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
2010s South African Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Hardwood, Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Oak
2010s Mexican Modern Dining Room Chairs
Oak, Walnut, Leather, Fabric, Wood
2010s Turkish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Maple
2010s Dutch Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
15th Century and Earlier American Antique Modern Dining Room Chairs
Maple, Paint