Modern Side 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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 German Modern Side Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Side Chairs
Stainless Steel, Steel
2010s American Modern Side Chairs
Wood, Hardwood, Oak
2010s Danish Modern Side Chairs
Beech, Papercord
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Steel, Chrome
2010s American Modern Side Chairs
Mahogany, Maple, Papercord, Oak
2010s American Modern Side Chairs
Steel
2010s Danish Modern Side Chairs
Steel
2010s American Modern Side Chairs
Wood, Hardwood, Oak
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Steel
2010s American Modern Side Chairs
Steel
2010s Danish Modern Side Chairs
Papercord, Beech
2010s Italian Modern Side Chairs
Steel
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Steel
2010s Dutch Modern Side Chairs
Steel
1980s English Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Steel
Early 2000s Italian Modern Side Chairs
Steel
2010s Portuguese Modern Side Chairs
Fabric, Wood, Upholstery
2010s Danish Modern Side Chairs
Oak, Papercord
1950s Italian Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Pine
1960s Danish Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Upholstery, Fruitwood
2010s American Modern Side Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Chairs
Leather, Foam, Wood
2010s Portuguese Modern Side Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Side Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Chairs
Leather, Foam, Wood
2010s Swiss Modern Side Chairs
Leather, Plastic
1950s American Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Naugahyde
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Side Chairs
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Side Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Chairs
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Side Chairs
Metal, Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Side Chairs
Leather
2010s Portuguese Modern Side Chairs
Gold Leaf
1970s American Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Oak, Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Side Chairs
Wood
1990s Belgian Modern Side Chairs
Leather, Oak
Early 2000s American Modern Side Chairs
Fabric, Wicker, Rattan, Bamboo
2010s Portuguese Modern Side Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Chairs
Metal
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Side Chairs
Wrought Iron
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Steel
2010s American Modern Side Chairs
Leather
1980s German Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Stainless Steel, Chrome
1950s American Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Steel
2010s Chinese Modern Side Chairs
Stone
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Side Chairs
Leather, Walnut
1960s American Vintage Modern Side Chairs
Steel, Chrome
2010s European Modern Side Chairs
Velvet, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Side Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Side Chairs
Metal
2010s Danish Modern Side Chairs
Steel
2010s American Modern Side Chairs
Mahogany
2010s Portuguese Modern Side Chairs
Velvet, Wood, Upholstery, Foam
1990s Modern Side Chairs
Paper
2010s Spanish Modern Side Chairs
Brass, Steel
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Side Chairs
Metal
2010s Spanish Modern Side Chairs
Brass, Steel