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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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 Danish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Dining Room Chairs
Walnut, Mohair
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Textile, Upholstery, Hardwood
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Textile, Cane, Hardwood, Leather
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Textile, Cane, Hardwood
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Cane, Wood, Hardwood, Leather
2010s Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Cane, Wood, Hardwood, Textile
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Oak
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Plastic
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
2010s Turkish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Velvet, Ebony, Beech
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Linen
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Beech, Velvet, Bouclé, Fabric
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Beech, Leather, Velvet, Bouclé, Fabric
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Oak
Mid-20th Century Unknown Modern Dining Room Chairs
Faux Leather, Oak
2010s Canadian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Maple
2010s Turkish Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
1990s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
2010s Chinese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fiberglass
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
1960s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Cane, Wood
Early 2000s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal, Aluminum
Early 2000s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Ash
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Poplar, Plywood
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood, Walnut
1970s Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Lacquer, Bouclé
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
1980s American Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Zebra Wood
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century French Modern Dining Room Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Faux Fur, Leather, Velvet, Bouclé, Fabric
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Oak
1970s Danish Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Pine
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Beech
1920s Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Taiwanese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Walnut
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Walnut
2010s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Oak
1970s French Vintage Modern Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Elm
2010s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Velvet, Wood, Walnut, Plywood
Early 2000s Czech Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Bentwood